The Variety Show
by S. Chensu and Luff
Summary: Hurry, hurry, hurry, come and see the show! The greatest spectacles of our time, right through this door. Sirs, will you take a look at some of the finest specimens of the Victorian age? (3 out of 6 posted, 3 out of 6 written, solo by S. Chensu)
1. All the Princes and Paupers

This is just a little short story I did while on holiday recently which started off as an idea that just suddenly popped into my head while I was shopping in Plymouth with my family. I've decided to post it up now because I've just finished some big exams and I need cheering up. There isn't much to say about it; apart from I've tried to make this quite realistic. This has meant putting in some details to make it more authentic. Or try to at least.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the character Fettuccini from "The Care Bears" movie (I just used his name for my own devious plans). All I own is the made up characters, Sarah, John, Tom, Claire (OCs) and the story idea itself.

**Warning**: As usual this is a yaoi story (male x male) so if you don't like it then please don't read and then complain. There will be a very small amount of abuse but nothing to push it into the R category. There isn't much swearing in here either.

**Notes**: This (probably obviously to you) takes place in an AU (Alternative Universe) and so there is no duel monsters, Millennium Items or spirits. There are four OCs (Original Characters, most of them bit parts) and some of the original characters from Yu-Gi-Oh! are OOC (Out Of Character). Ages are also different, ranging from 14-26 but I'll specify them when I get there. In case you're wondering why I've put the meanings of things in brackets, it's because I feel sorry for all the people who don't know what they mean. Just like me. If I've got any of them wrong, please tell me!

"Blah" is speaking, _blah_ is thinking and /_blah_/ is emphasis.xxxxxx is a little bit of time passing/different POV and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is a big change in time/different POV.

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Part one: All the Princes and Paupers**

It was nighttime in South East London and three people were whispering to each other from their 'beds' in a large circus tent. The reason they were 'beds' was because they were made up of bales of hay with a scrappy blanket to cover the bodies lying on them. That was it, nothing else to ease their weariness after a hard day's work. At least Marik was asleep: things seemed to be ten times more stressful whenever he was around. Not because he wasn't a nice person or anything, he was one of the sweetest people they knew but his temperament was unpredictable, they couldn't sleep until he did as he had a nasty habit of trying to bite people in a gesture of friendliness. Only you usually didn't stop bleeding for the next two days and there was a case of someone who had to have their arm removed after one of Marik's friendly greetings. Of course it didn't matter if /_they_/ got bitten, as long as they didn't complain about it.

"When are things going to get better for us?" One of them asked to no one in particular, completely swamped by the blanket wrapped around him. He was the youngest, a boy of fourteen in the body of a ten year old. Although he had grown half a foot over the past year, that was not a good thing in the master's eyes. The only reason he had been taken in was because of his height, or rather, the lack of it and so growing was a bad thing. He had been threatened with abandonment but that didn't stop his body from growing. Nothing would.

"I think we have to face the fact it ain't happening Yugi. He tricked us and now we can't escape because we'll just get caught again." Another boy, this time fifteen, replied, looking around as though to check no one was there. He had brown hair that spiked up very tall, with long arms and legs and a knack of being able to get them into positions that weren't considered natural. At the moment all he could do though was wince in pain from his joints, the master had pushed him too far again.

"It's not like we could escape together anyway. How would we get Joey to understand that he has to leave the place that gives him food and shelter and go somewhere where his safety isn't included? And we could never get Marik to be quiet unless we hit him and I don't want to do that." A soft voice added, matching his soft, almost non-existent body. His pure white skin and hair was set off by his pink eyes and thin frame, which rarely saw daylight for fear of being marked, and not just by the burning of light. The master didn't like it if his skin was imperfect; he didn't look as good then.

"Maybe someone will realise one day that we're unhappy and they'll take us away." The boy they called Yugi, suggested.

"Yes, but it might be to somewhere worse. I'd much rather be here than in a workhouse or living as a street boy." The brown haired boy pointed out.

"Tristan's right you know. At least here we don't get beaten up as long as we do what we're told. And we get food everyday." The albino said, causing Yugi to look down and close his eyes.

"I know, but I just don't like being here. I want to go home…" He sniffed quietly and put his face in his hands while the other two sat on either side of him and hugged him tightly.

"Shush Yugi, you have to be strong…" The white haired boy whispered. "We still have each other and as long as we're here, we're all going to be fine."

"Listen to him Yugi, we're here for each other and I know it seems bad sometimes but at least we're together." Tristan said, looking closely at Yugi. "We'll always be together, they'll never split us up."

"Promise?" Tristan nodded his head and Yugi smiled, wiping his face with his hand. "Thank you Tristan, Ryou. I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"You wouldn't be here; you would be somewhere where you're happy." Ryou commented but Yugi shook his head.

"No, I think things would be worse." They sat hugging for a while, leaning against each other in their sleepiness until they heard a person walking towards the tent. Quickly leaping back into their 'beds', they pretended they were asleep until the person had finished checking on them, poking them hard before leaving the tent once more. They looked at each other for a second, trying to reassure themselves that things would be better tomorrow and before going off to sleep, the only escape from their lives…

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'_Dear friends, _

'_It is that time once more, when winter starts to set in, that we leave our manors in the country and move into London to meet up with others and see how things have changed over the last year._

'_As usual, you are welcome to come stay with me at May View House but if you decide not to, I would still like to invite you to a gathering, just the five of us, on the 6th October at my abode as a chance for us to reacquaint and hear of each other's endeavours over the year._

'_I hope to hear from you all, my sincerest wishes,_

'_Lord Kaiba.'_

"Humph, he always made his letters nice and fancy, I don't know who he's trying to impress…" A black haired man commented to himself before he picked up a pen and pulled a sheet of paper towards him, glancing out of the window to admire the rolling grounds before turning back to his reply.

'_Dear 'Lord Kaiba',_

'_I feel inclined to acquiesce to your request my Lord but just be glad this letter was not received yesterday or I might have had to disincline._

'_However, I would like to enquire if it could be allowed for me to arrive a day early, as that is when I am letting the servants vacate to their residences._

'_I hope you do not disapprove of the forwardness of my asking and that you receive this letter in good health._

'_Sincerely,_

'_Orville, Duke of Rutland._

'_P.S. You know, you could have just asked if I wanted to come over, all this flowery language is quite unnecessary. You are killing all the trees off…'_

_xxxxxx_

"Hmm, a chance to eat nice food and be fussed about more than I am here… I like the sound of that."

'_Kaiba, _

'_Do you think I could refuse such an offer? I'll be the first one there._

'_Malik'_

A man with wild, ash coloured hair smirked at his reply, thinking about what Kaiba would say to that before putting the letter in an envelope and placing his seal over the break in the paper.

"That reminds me, I must get the place sorted out before I arrive…" He stood up and went to find his head butler to enquire as to what was happening about the situation.

xxxxxx

"London, maybe I will find the answer there…" He ran his fingers through his pale hair as the feeling of emptiness came back to him. He felt so unfulfilled but maybe seeing his friends would sort that problem out.

'_Dear Kaiba,_

'_Yes, I would approve of stopping off at your abode before continuing onto mine. However, I may be late, as I have to make a visit to an associate of mine._

'_Yours sincerely,_

'_Bakura, Duke of Warwickshire.'_

He thought to his 'acquaintance', a man who claimed to have found a feral child. No doubt it would come to nothing but he may as well look into it, after all, it was /_his_/ money that had funded it.

xxxxxx

He re-read the letter, the excitement of an opportunity to meet the man who had 'presented' him to society so well, again causing him to nearly spill the jar of black ink sitting on the table. He set pen to paper, thinking of how to phrase his reply.

'_Dear Lord Kaiba,_

'_It would be my pleasure to visit you at May View House; we have not had the chance to talk for a while now. And if it is not too rude, I would like to be able to stay for the whole of the season, Kale still makes me uncomfortable. To be perfectly honest, I am afraid of disturbing my grandfather's soul._

'_Sincerely,_

'_Lord Yami'_

_xxxxxx_

Lord Kaiba read all of the replies, having all come at a similar time, a rare smile crossing his face. His friends were the only things that would let him be happy; there was nothing else that was worth his time or effort. Like Bakura, his life was also unfulfilled but he would never admit it, thinking his feelings disgraced the memory of his father Clarence, the person who had made this life possible. He was eternally grateful but that didn't stop him from thinking that something was missing…

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"Come on you scum, wake up!" Was the greeting Tristan, Ryou and Yugi got the next day but they sat up straight away, knowing it was not a good thing to make the master angry. Items were near thrown down next to them and they rubbed their eyes, looking to see what it was. "I want one of you to feed Marik and Joey and the other two to come with me. We're moving soon and the whole place needs to get packed up." The three of them quickly looked at each other, Yugi and Tristan giving Ryou slightly begging glances.

"I'll feed Joey and Marik if you want." Ryou knew that it required a lot of patience and control and he was seen as the best person for it, but he enjoyed it. It was the only time he got to see them and they always managed to make him smile.

"Don't take too long or you won't have anything to eat." The master grumbled before disappearing off with Yugi and Tristan. Ryou sighed quietly before going over to the area where Joey and Marik were penned in together.

He saw they were both asleep, lying close to each other and he took a moment to watch them, smiling as Joey kicked his leg out and hit Marik, causing him to growl slightly before settling down again. Marik hadn't been with them before, he was a wild child the master had 'rescued' and was unused to human company so he spent little time with anyone apart from Joey. No one was quite sure why but Ryou suspected it was because Joey somehow reassured him, what with the features he had. They were able to relate to each other better and Ryou didn't think Marik had ever even seen Yugi and Tristan for more than a few seconds at a time. It was like he feared them…

His attention was brought back to reality when he heard Joey stirring and he opened his eyes, staring at him for a second before leaping up and running towards him.

"RYOU!" He grabbed hold of him and hugged him tightly, Ryou feeling the hair covering nearly all of his body against his face. He smiled, this was why he enjoyed being with them, because they seemed to appreciate him more than anyone else did.

"Hello Joey." Ryou replied when Joey had finally let go of him, standing in front of him, an eager look on his face. In fact, if Joey were an animal, it would have to be a little excitable puppy. He was just so enthusiastic all the time; he would do anything as long as it made someone happy. Ryou could almost imagine him with a wagging tail. "I've got breakfast for you and Marik, could you wake him up please?" While Joey was in an almost permanent state of happiness, Marik was less certain. He copied a lot of things that Joey did but he was still susceptible to mood swings, especially when it came to waking him up. The last person other than Joey to wake him up was nearly mauled to death. He had calmed down a lot though, he was just very shy now but Ryou still left the waking to Joey.

"Marik, wake up!" Joey yelled, shaking him quite hard and of course it didn't take long for him to open his eyes, sitting up suddenly, ready to kill the person who had dared to treat him like that. Until he realised it was Joey. He then beamed at him and Joey turned back to Ryou. "I woke him up Ryou."

"Thank you Joey." Ryou stepped closer and sat down on one of the bales of hay. "Hello Marik." Ryou said quietly and Marik stared at him for a second before hiding behind Joey, suddenly looking scared. He was of most people. Joey turned to Marik and he mumbled something.

"Marik says hello too." Joey said, slightly less happy than before but still with a wagging tail. Ryou set down the bucket in his hand, only now looking at what was inside it. There were various bits of very rare meat and on some days it nearly made him sick, the smell was so awful. But today wasn't too bad so it must have been Sarah who had prepared it. She hadn't been here long and they had talked to each other once, when she had brought it herself. She had watched Ryou feeding them and realised that it wasn't animals that were getting it, despite what she had been told. So she always made sure they were at least slightly cooked, instead of bloody raw like the others did it. And it didn't make much of a difference to Marik and Joey but it did to him.

"I've got some food for you here." He pushed the bucket forward and Joey and Marik sniffed suspiciously at it before looking back at Ryou again. Oh dear, it would have been nice if he could have gone for one day without having to do this… "Do you want me to try it first?" They nodded their heads and Ryou looked down in the bucket, trying to find the one that had been cooked for the longest. He took it out and stared at it for a second, wishing he didn't have to do this before putting it in his mouth, chewing for the minimum amount of time and swallowing. If he didn't do this, they refused to eat it and he would get told off for not feeding them. However, he was not a great fan of food in general; he didn't eat much else apart from this during the day, if he managed to keep it down… "There, nothing wrong with it."

Seeing he hadn't keeled over yet, they took some of the meat and started eating it, causing Ryou to look away. He hated watching other people eat, it made him feel sick and the taste of the meat was still stuck in his mouth. So he shut them off and tried to think of something else instead. The master had said they were moving…

_It must be to London, seeing as it's nearly winter now. I'm not sure that's a good thing though…_ It meant being viewed to aristocrats and they were worse than the lower classes were. They went /_just_/ to make them suffer even more than they already were, in Ryou's opinion. They came in and spent their whole time asking the master why he hadn't had the animals killed yet. That's what they saw them as: animals, below even the paupers and criminals. They were freaks…

Ryou tried to hold back a sob, not wanting to get Joey and Marik upset. But that word hurt him so much, he didn't like the way he was, he wanted to be normal. He saw the way everyone stared at him, like he was something dangerous. Even Yugi and Tristan acted like that sometimes and they were his friends. That's why he liked Marik and Joey, they just didn't seem to be able to judge him, they saw him as a person who happened to be quite pale. But that was only two people…

He heard them move and then the sound of water. They had been given bowls to drink from but Sarah had managed to smuggle in a couple of cups for them. Fine, they may be quite animal-like in behaviour but that didn't mean they should be treated like them, that was just cruel and unfunny. He turned back to them, wiping his eyes so they wouldn't see the tears waiting to fall and checking the bucket to make sure they had eaten everything.

"Ryou, why do you look sad?" Joey suddenly asked and Ryou looked at him, trying to frown in puzzlement.

"W-why do you say that?"

"Because your eyes are wet and sad people have wet eyes." Joey said simply.

"Don't worry, I'm just a bit tired." He said quite convincingly and Joey stared at him, wondering what to do. "I'll be fine, honestly."

"If you say so." Joey looked almost disapproving of what Ryou had just said. "Do you know what's going on? There's lots of noise and yelling today." He said, changing the subject dramatically.

"It's winter soon so everything's being moved to London."

"London? That's where all the posh people live…I don't like them, they think we're animals." Joey said sombrely before cheering up again. "But it's only for a few months and then we can go. And we'll be together too." Trust Joey to always look on the bright side of things.

"Yes, you're right. Anyway, I have to go now and help them put the things away." Ryou said, standing up with the bucket in his hand. "Hopefully I'll see you two soon."

"I hope we'll talk again too Ryou." He hugged him once more, only this time less tightly. "Bye Ryou."

"Bye Joey, bye Marik." He glanced over in Marik's direction and instantly looked down at his feet.

"Bye Wyou…" Marik whispered and Ryou grinned, he could talk, if only a little.

"See you guys later." He left their pen and glancing back, saw them staring mournfully at him. He turned around again, knowing if he didn't he would somehow persuade himself to stay with them for the whole day and that was /_not_/ a good idea.

Ryou looked up at the sky to see how bright the sun was and was glad to see it was quite cloudy. He burnt /_very_/ easily but today he could at least stay outside for more than a minute before he felt the effects of the sun. Usually it was only a matter of seconds. He walked over to the kitchen area, a very large tent constantly full of different smells and lots of yelling, to replace the bucket when he ran into Sarah, a girl slightly older than him with wiry brown hair.

"Hello Ryou, long time no see." She said cheerfully and then looked at him properly. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're just skin and bones! Have you not been eating /_any_/thing at all since I last saw you?" She demanded, trying to lift his top up to get a better look.

"Of course I eat!" He said, stepping backwards. She sighed and glanced back into the kitchen.

"Stay here for a second…" She disappeared into the large tent and reappeared again, an apple in her hand. "I know it doesn't seem a lot but I know if I give you any more, you won't eat it."

"I'm not hungry." Ryou said stubbornly.

"Quite." She grabbed his hand and pushed the apple into it. "Now eat it! I'll know if you haven't." She said, looking seriously at him and he sighed, taking a bite out of it.

"Thank you." He took a couple of more bites out of it before hearing the yells of the master as yet another incompetent twit did something wrong. There seemed to be a lot of those whenever he was around. "I'd better go now."

"Don't let him get you down…" She said as a farewell before going back into the kitchen.

Ryou quickly finished off the apple and then made in the direction of the master's voice to see if there was anything for him to do. Whatever it was, it was bound to be the lowest job of the low. He had absolutely no respect for them…

"Ryou, where have you been?" He heard the master boom as Ryou entered what appeared to be pure chaos.

"Feeding Marik and Joey, remember?" He replied quietly, knowing you had to be careful with how much liberty you could take with him.

"Oh yes, does it really take that long?" He said snidely as he looked around the area. "There really isn't much you can do around here; I've already got enough useless idiots here as it is. I know the kitchen staff were moaning about not having enough help, why don't you go over there?" Ryou simply nodded his head before going back the way he had come.

Ryou knew that what he had just done was an act of kindness…sort of. The master knew full well that he got burnt easily so being in the kitchen would keep him out of the sun at least. But he also knew that a lot of people were afraid of him so it was also probably because they would have refused to work near him.

_Oh well, at least he's not making me clear out the animals' pens._ He thought, slightly happier than before as he stood in front of the white tent.

"Oh, Ryou. What are you doing back here? Don't tell me you want something else to eat?" Sarah said jokingly.

"The master said you needed some help here and told me to make myself useful." Ryou replied and she smiled in happiness.

"Great, you can help me!" She led him into the kitchen and Ryou saw that, for once, there was very little cooking. The cooks were constantly busy, having to feed a camp of at least a hundred, not including animals, took a lot time. So the fact that a lot of stuff had been packed away was surprising.

"Where are the others?" Ryou asked curiously.

"Oh, they're getting the cart for all of this. They can't pack everything at the moment as the kitchen's always the last thing to go down but they have to do it quickly so anything not needed goes." They stopped in front of a large chest full of pots and pans. "For instance, we can get rid a lot of this stuff. But first of all, we have to clean it."

"Don't they get cleaned every day then?" Ryou pondered as Sarah took out a pan and handed it over to him.

"Do you think we've got time? No, the insides get wiped but the outside is left to get black. This is the monthly clean and once they're done, they can't be used until we get to London." She explained, searching in another chest for something to scrub with them with. "The head cook has taken out everything she needs so all of this has to be washed." Ryou pulled a face and she laughed. "It's not that bad. I mean, we can sit down and chat while we're doing it."

"That's a good point."

They set to work on the pots and pans (Note from S. Chensu: Now I know how to clean them, I've had to do it on Guide camp but I don't think they had washing up liquid then. Hmm…), laughing as they flicked the soapy water at each other, getting almost as wet as the cooking equipment. They stopped for lunch when once again Ryou was practically force-fed but somehow it didn't feel as bad as other times.

It was now late afternoon and the two teenagers were tired but proud as the gleaming pots and pans sat in front of them. It was then another person came in, and recognition flittered onto Sarah's face although Ryou didn't know him. He must be a cook, one of the behind the scenes people who did one of the most important jobs but was never acknowledged for it. He glanced at them and instantly his face became that of distaste as he looked over Ryou.

_Somehow I managed to nearly forget that everything thinks I'm a freak…_ He thought wryly as he prepared himself for what was to come.

"Sarah, what is /_that_/ doing there?" He demanded, causing Ryou to blush and became nervous. Although there was supposed to be no cruelty against children here, he wasn't counted as one.

"He has a name John; he's just like you and me." Sarah pointed out but his face didn't change.

"I don't care what /_It_/ is!"

"Anyway, Fettuccini said to him to help out in the kitchen and he has!" She continued and John paused in his anger.

"Well, I suppose if Fettuccini said to help then so be it." He grumbled and stepped closer. "Everyone's finishing for the day now and I need your help to start the dinner." Ryou took this as the signal for him to leave and he stood up, keeping his eyes to the ground as a sign of respect.

"Yes, I'll be with you in a second…" Ryou heard faintly as he left the tent. He gave himself a moment before giving in to the tears, covering his face with his hands as he tried to control himself when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Ryou…?"

"What do you want?" He said thickly, knowing it was Sarah but still shrugging the hand off.

"I wanted to see if you were going to be all right." She said hesitantly and he looked at her, scowling at her words.

"Oh yes, I'm going to be fine and dandy. I'm just going to spend the rest of my life with people treating me like that!" He shouted, turning away from her.

"But not everybody thinks about you like that…" She whispered.

"So what? A handful out of a camp of a hundred!"

"Well at least it's something…" She pointed out before sighing. "Well whatever. I thought you might like to talk to someone but obviously not." Ryou merely walked away and she shook her head. "You can't shut everyone off forever Ryou…" She murmured before going back to the kitchen.

xxxxxx

"Hey Ryou, is something wrong? You seem a bit quiet tonight." Tristan said as they sat together, eating dinner. Well Tristan and Yugi were, Ryou felt sick as usual.

"No, just thinking about random things." He said to reassure them.

"So what did you have to do today then? We didn't get a chance to talk or anything." Yugi said, trying to get Ryou to interact.

"Oh I went to the kitchen and helped Sarah clean the pots and pans. Wasn't too bad I suppose…"

"Sounds good actually, Sarah's quite nice. At least you didn't have to clean out the animal pens." The job that everyone hated… Ryou smiled as he imagined them trying to shovel up mounds of waste while holding their noses.

"He made you do that? Ew!" Ryou squealed and the others laughed.

"Yes and it wasn't a pretty sight." Tristan added, causing Ryou to laugh even more.

"At least you didn't fall into it like that other guy did." Yugi pointed out. "I think he must have been one of the handlers and he was going to get something when he fell over a shovel and landed on the big smelly pile!" They all joined in laughing, tears rolling down Yugi's face as he remembered the look on the man's face. "That was funny…"

"It was less funny when he accused us of putting that shovel there on purpose…" Tristan commented and Yugi winced.

"It was lucky Fettuccini came in when he did or he would have flogged us for sure."

"He hasn't been too bad today, I wonder why?" Tristan pondered.

"Probably because he knows that when we go to London, he's going to get lots of money. That's the only thing that would make him happy." Ryou said scornfully and Yugi nodded in agreement.

"Yes, you're right. Oh well, at least it means he might shout at us less." The three of them continued making small talk until the master came along and yelled at them, telling them to go to bed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The five aristocrats sat together in Lord Kaiba's large drawing room, having finally arrived after facing the usual problems of moving to London for the winter.

"I swear the servants are getting more and more lazy every year." Lord Kaiba, known just as 'Kaiba' to the five of them, commented.

"It's probably because you take too much with you; servants can only do so much you know." Orville, Duke of Rutland (although he hated both his name and his title) replied. "And anyway, we're all here now so it doesn't matter." He added.

"You are just being soft Duke because you feel sorry for them."

"That may be so but you could at least be less overbearing." Duke retorted and Malik quickly interrupted before anything could start.

"Please, we can argue over the finer points of servants' rights when you're both drunk." He smiled, knowing that this would get to Kaiba. Any comments about him and drinking always did.

"I do not get /_drunk/_!"

"Only that time when you got really shy around that girl-"

"And the time when old uppity arse came to visit-"

"/_And_/ the time when you tried to get rid of the taste of oysters when you first tried them." They all recounted various tales of Kaiba drinking enough to tip him over the scales of being sober and he yelled in annoyance, throwing his hands up in defence.

"So I drank a little too much a couple of times!"

"A little too much, he says…" Malik muttered and Kaiba stared at him pointedly before rolling his eyes.

"Humph…" He sat there looking like he was going to have a tantrum for a couple of seconds before sitting up straight again and clearing his throat. "So who is your associate then Bakura? Who is so important you could be late to see your friends?" Kaiba disapproved greatly of the way Bakura splashed about with his money and he knew it.

"Oh, nothing really interesting. I did ask to change the date but he was adamant he had to see me then." Bakura said vaguely, feeling Kaiba's attitude to how he lived his life.

"Anything come out of it?" Duke asked, always interested in the things Bakura did. At least he wasn't boring like so many other aristocrats were.

"Yes, there were some developments…"

"Like what?"

"Well he found what I was looking for." Bakura was close to blushing; this was making him really uncomfortable.

"I hate to say it Bakura but you are going to have to explain it better than that because I have no idea what you are talking about." Yami interjected and the others nodded in agreement.

"Fine, fine! Basically I paid someone to find a feral child for me." As soon as he said that he had several questions fired at him all at once. "Well I just wanted to see one and it was a man called Fettuccini. He did find one and I was going to go and look at it in a few days' time."

"Fettuccini? Doesn't he own a circus?"

"Yes and they are moving to London for the winter months. He has a lot of things like animals and performers and some other curiosities." Bakura explained and they listened on, interested in what he had to say. "We could go and visit him I suppose."

"That sounds like a good idea." Kaiba said and they smiled to themselves, it took a lot to get Kaiba's attention. "Well now that is sorted out what has been going on with you Malik? I heard something happened with you, a certain lady and some playing cards…"

"Oh that… I tell you, the whole situation was blown out of proportion, all that happened was…"

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Ryou sat on top of a wagon as it travelled along a road, legs swinging over the side as he stared at the mass of smoke and the hustle and bustle of life in general known as London. There was no escape now; they were stuck there until March, six whole months of being abused, verbally if not physically. But somehow the journey had its good points too. It showed Ryou what could have happened to him if he hadn't been taken in, struggling to survive on the street if he wasn't killed and experimented on first. He didn't know whether that was true or not but he had heard the rumours, cages upon cages of those who were different, scientists trying to find out why they were the way they were…

"Oy Ryou, aren't you going to come in? It's getting cold out there!" This was accompanied by the banging of a window as it was lifted and a head poked out of it, looking upwards as he looked down.

"It's not too bad out here but I'll come in anyway." Yet again there had been an argument as to what to do with him, Yugi, Joey and Marik as they moved to London. Tristan managed to get away with staying with the performers, although he was the only contortionist. They had put Joey and Marik with the animals as usual, despite several arguments between the master and Sarah and some of her friends. They couldn't change his mind but at least he allowed Yugi and him to stay with them instead. So now Yugi was with a couple of animal keepers called Claire and Tom while he was staying with Sarah.

He carefully made his way over the top of the caravan and onto the small set of steps before opening the door and entering. He shivered at the contrast between the cold outside and the warmth provided by several lamps, closing his eyes slightly at the brightness of them. She immediately realised and lowered them all so that he could see comfortably. Another problem: he had trouble seeing with candles as the light hurt his eyes. He could deal with the sun just about if it was cloudy but candles or naked flames in general were bad for him.

"I've got some stuff ready for dinner, although I know you're now going to say you're not hungry." She sighed and sat down at the small table, him doing the same.

"Err…"

"I just don't like sitting here eating like a fat pig while you don't do anything." She said, holding out a roll to him. "It's not fresh but it's good. Please eat it, I don't want you dying on me."

"All right." He was a little bit hungry but he took it mainly to please her. "We're nearly there." He said to change the conversation.

"Good, I hate travelling. It takes so long and I know we only do it twice a year but we seem to spend most of the time getting ready for it." She commented, causing him to laugh.

"I think it's all right, you get to see all the caravans in a huge great line, like we're migrating." The equipment and animals and the people who dealt with them went a couple of days before everyone else so that by the time they got there, everything was already set up. The circus was mostly made up of families and so they came in their own caravans but those who didn't, which were few, were given one. Sarah had got hers from Claire who had moved in with Tom when they got married.

"Well I suppose you can but someone has to control the horses so I usually see the back of the one in front of me." She glanced at the clock to see what the time was. "Anyway, we should be stopping soon." True to her word they heard the yelling of people, telling them all to get off the road and into probably a field where they would spend the night. "I'll be back in a minute."

She jumped out of the caravan and ran around to the front to the horses, taking control of them to steer them to the field. Ryou poked his head out of the window and saw the line gradually moving right to a large patch of grass. They had been set up by generations of travellers before them and luckily no one had done anything to them yet. Soon he felt the caravan stop and he heard Sarah yell for the food for the horses. He found the two buckets filled with vegetables and handed one to her while he held onto the other one.

Soon they were done and after talking to the master for a few moments as he went around checking everyone was there, they went straight to bed, completely tired and knowing they needed to be ready because tomorrow they would arrive at the site.

* * *

Yay, first part done! Only six more left to go! This is going to be the shortest story I've ever written but that doesn't mean it won't be good! A couple of apologises, first of all for the amount of Ryou focus in this part but I get the feeling there's going to be more of it so /_very sorry_! And also for the fact it's not as accurate as I thought it was going to be. See I did write this, having an idea but made the stupid mistake of thoroughly researching after writing most of this and so, as expected, I've made one blindingly obvious errors to anyone who has studied the Victorians before. But if I don't tell you, you won't notice. So if you review with a point about me making a very stupid mistake I already know! 

Anyway, please review and until next time (in about a week and a bit's time), have a good day!

S. Chensu xxx.

P.S. I would have posted this up at the beginning of this week but has been down a lot recently so I haven't had the chance!


	2. A Tale of Two very different Cities

Hello everyone and here is the second part of my story. This update is quite late because my beta reader was being slow, my laptop didn't save any of the changes I made so I had to redo them and every time the document was uploaded, it would get rid of the bold/underlining/italics/some of the symbols. So it something looks like it's missing, it probably is.

Anyway, I didn't get many reviews so just one person to answer questions to!

**Yugi and Mai**- Yay, you're my first reviewers! And my only too! That's depressing, nobody likes my story…but Chensu never gives up! I'll keep on posting, even if no one likes it! I'll show them, I'll show them all! Anyway, enough of the madness. Thanks very much, it's nice to know that someone appreciates this story and in case you're wondering, things only get worse for Ryou! Hehe, I like making their lives miserable.

Never mind eh? Maybe I'll get some fans in this part…hopefully.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the name Fettuccini (Care Bears). The only things that are mine are the story and the OC Dr Garrod.

**Warning**: As a reminder from the first chapter, this is a yaoi story (male x male) so if you don't like it then please don't read and then complain. Also, a bit of dialect today, so have our finger on that mouse, ready to scroll up and down the page in a vain attempt to find the word. No sex or swearing though.

**Note**: "Blah" is speaking, _blah_ is thinking/_blah_/ is emphasisxxxxxx is a change of scene andxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is a change of viewpoint/passing of time.

* * *

**Part two: A Tale of Two (very different) Cities**

Ryou, Yugi and Tristan were worried. The master was very excited today, he seemed almost happy in fact. They were now settled into the routine of living in London, travelling early each day from the main circus into the city where the master would attract customers for the evening and allow them to be viewed, for a price of course. They arrived at the site and after entering the tent, the master turned to them.

"Now, some very important people are coming today so I want you to be on your best behaviour. Any trouble and you'll wish you hadn't been born!" Ryou stood still, knowing if he moved he would crash into something. The master had kindly decided to make his eyes even more sensitive than usual by putting a blindfold on him and only letting him see in the dark. He couldn't even look at a patch of sunlight on the ground, they were so bad. He felt an arm interlink with his and Tristan led him to the darkness of the tent.

"Tristan, did he say 'important people'?" Ryou whispered, automatically able to tell it was him from the presence he felt.

"Yes, I think one of them helped to get Marik, I'm not sure." He replied but suddenly quietened down when the master walked towards them.

"Now I know what you're like Ryou, you'll try and cause some sort of trouble so today I'm going to give you an incentive to be a good boy." Just because Ryou didn't feel like acting like he was some sort of animal, that he talked and sounded normal to the people who came to see him. He felt his arm being grabbed, forcing him onto the ground and he was about to protest when he felt something metallic go around his neck. Immediately he reached for it and felt a collar with a chain coming off the back of it. The master had tied him up, just like he did with Marik!

"What are you doing, get this thing off me!" He yelled, thrashing about madly.

"Unless you want me to shorten the chain you'll stop doing that." The master growled and instantly Ryou stopped, wanting at least to be able to move. "That's better. Now keep the blindfold on until they come in."

"Yes master." Ryou said, feeling totally humiliated and just wanting the day to be over.

"Joey, is Marik tied up? I don't want to risk him getting loose again." Ah yes, it had happened a few days ago, the chain keeping Marik under control had broken and he had lunged for the people standing in front of the pen. Luckily Joey had stopped him and the spectators thought it was all just part of the act. "Good. Now I'll be waiting outside and I don't want any of you causing trouble, got it?" After he received the answer he wanted, he lifted the tent flap up and they were left in silence.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Lord Kaiba, the carriage is ready sir." The five men were just finishing breakfast when the head butler came in and announced this to the room.

"Thank you Edwards, we will be there presently." Kaiba replied and the butler bowed before leaving the room. "Well then gentlemen, I suggest we get moving if we are going to see Fettuccini as well as get ready for the engagement tonight."

"Are you sure we /_have_/ to see old uppity arse?" Duke asked, receiving a frown from Kaiba. "Come on, we all know we despise him so what's the point?"

"The point is, if we do not go there will be suspicions and that is the last thing we need. All we have to do is pretend to be polite and let everyone fuss over you for a while and then hopefully we can leave."

"Sounds good to me." Yami said and Kaiba smiled slightly. He could always count on him for support; they had grown very close since meeting just over a year ago.

"Then we are agreed." Kaiba said and he got three reluctant assents. "Good, then we will be going." He lifted a hand and indicated the table, causing three maids to start clearing it away.

They left the room and after taking a second to make themselves look presentable, they went through the door held open for them and stood for a moment, admiring the carriage Kaiba had ordered for the day.

"What are you trying to do, stun him into submission?" Kaiba smirked at Malik.

"Of course, he is of a lower class to us. This is just to make it plainly obvious." It may have been spiteful but somehow the others still found it funny as they sat in the carriage. Luckily the journey would only take about twenty minutes so they settled down to listen to Bakura's story about how he and Fettuccini had met.

xxxxxx

"Ah, good morning my Lords and Dukes." Ryou winced slightly as he heard those words, it was worse than he thought. They were so upper class that they were all Dukes and Lords. No sirs amongst them. Which meant they were the proper variety, those who had had their titles passed down to them through the ages.

For some reason he was desperate to see who they were but knew that thanks to his eyes, that would be almost impossible. Plus it was rude to look someone in the face when they were of a much higher class to you. He took the blindfold off and tried to open his eyes before squeezing them shut again. The pain was so bad…

"Your collection is small I see…" Ryou heard a cold voice comment.

"I have recently managed to acquire several more exhibitions but they will not be arriving for another day or two unfortunately, my Lord." Fettuccini replied as they walked towards the first pen, which contained a small figure kneeling at the front, head cast downwards. "This is Yugi, my midget." Yami nearly gasped when he saw that the person looked almost exactly like him but managed to control himself just in time. He bent down to look at him closer, only to be met with wide glittering eyes.

"Good morning my Lord." He whispered, bowing his head so that Yami could no longer see those enchanting eyes.

"Please look at me." Yami said and Yugi's head shot back up, fear in his eyes. Was the man mad at him for looking away? "Do not be afraid, I am not going to do anything to you." Yugi remained silent though, knowing he was only to speak when he was spoken to. "Please say something…"

"I-I'm sorry my Lord…" He stuttered, looking like he was going to cry any second. "What do you want me to say?"

"Anything, it does not matter." Yugi thought for a moment, trying to think of something that would make him sound vaguely intelligent when he remembered reading something in a book at grandpa's house. Grandpa, the man who had looked after them all until they were forced out by society and the rest of his family. He wasn't their real grandfather but he always said to call him that. He had taught them to read and it was always one thing that stuck in his mind…

"Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?

Thou are more lovely and more temperate:

Rough windes do shake the darling buds of Maie,

And Sommers lease hath all too short a date:" Yugi blushed, suddenly realising what he was saying but Yami didn't seem to mind, gazing at him in fascination.

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dim'd,

And every faire from faire some-time declines,

By chance, or natures changing course untrim'd:" He continued and Yugi smiled slightly, surprised that someone else knew it so well.

"But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade,

Nor loose possession of that fair thou ow'st

Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade,

When in eternall lines to time thou grow'st" Yugi's voice was barely above a whisper and he felt uncomfortable as Yami leaned slightly closer.

"So long as men can breath or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." Yami put his hand through the bar and attempted to touch Yugi but he pulled away, feeling afraid of what the Lord was trying to do. Yami frowned for a second; unsure why Yugi had just done that when he saw his arm in the pen. He stood up quickly, coughing slightly and although the others had moved away, the whole event had not gone unnoticed by them.

"I didn't know you knew any love poetry…" Duke murmured just loud enough for both Yami and Yugi to hear and Yugi turned away, mortified by what had just happened.

"That is none of your business Duke Orville." Yami replied coldly and Yugi was slightly cheered up by the name. Why did the upper classes insist on calling themselves stupid things?

Duke scowled at the use of his first name, especially as they knew how much he despised it and turned back to the much more interesting sight that was in front of him, leaving Yami confused and unable to look back at Yugi, despite the fact he felt drawn to him.

Apparently the boy was supposed to be able to get into the small box in front of him, despite the fact he was too tall to be able to fit in without folding himself double at least. But maybe that was the point, what he was going to do, his 'talent'. He soon proved Duke's theory right, seeming to dislocate his joints as he squeezed himself in and was soon 'snugly' in the box. Duke leaned over, wanting to see how he had managed to get himself in there and was met with a mish mash of various bits of limb and body and a head seeming to float on top of it all. It glanced up and stared at him for a second before looking back down again.

"Can you get yourself out of there again?" He asked and the boy seemed to nod his head, the mass in the box shifting as he worked on getting out. He was soon standing in front of him, stretching himself before bowing in respect. "Stop bowing for goodness sake, you don't have to for me." He stood up straight, frowning slightly and Duke noticed a flash of pain passed over his face for a moment before it disappeared again. "What is your name?"

"It's Tristan my Lord." Duke nearly snorted at the reference to him, he hated the pompous titles and the fact that it was insisted that everybody had to use them.

"It's Duke, Tristan."

"I'm sorry Duke…" He mumbled and Duke sighed, following the others to the next part of the tent.

"Now this, Duke of Warwickshire, is the wild child I recently found." Fettuccini announced and Bakura peered in, noticing two people.

"Which one?"

"The one with blonde hair is Joey, our hirsute and the other is Marik the wild child." He turned to the two boys near cowering at the back of the pen and cocked his finger at them. "Come closer you two." Joey stood up and walked forward slowly, pushing Marik along at the same time who seemed even more reluctant to go near them. They stood in front of them, Marik hiding behind Joey, gripping his clothes tightly in fright as they looked down. "Marik come here." Fettuccini ordered and Joey whispered something to him, which he obviously understood because he moved away, standing next to him instead.

"So where did you find him then?" Bakura asked as he leaned closer, only for Marik to snarl and try and lunge while Joey restrained him.

"No Marik!" Joey yelled, making Marik face him. "Man good." Marik glanced at Bakura doubtfully before going to his original position of hiding.

"I found him in Scotland with a pack of wolves after hearing locals talk about a boy who ran with them every night." Fettuccini quickly said, knowing that he had had a lucky escape. If Marik had bit Bakura, that would have been the end of it…

"Scotland?" Bakura pondered out loud before turning back to Marik. "Does he say much?"

"No, he does not speak much, he knows very little English still." Fettuccini explained. "We have got him walking on two legs and he has stopped attacking people most of the time but he is very shy and will only talk to Joey."

"You are Joey?" Kaiba said to the boy and he stood to attention slightly.

"Yes my Lord." He whispered, making sure he didn't look at him.

"That is Lord Kaiba to you mongrel." He spat and Joey shivered in fear, he hated being called animal names.

"Yes Lord Kaiba." Oh no, it was worse than he thought. He didn't know much about the upper class but even the poor knew about Lord Kaiba, a tyrant to his unfortunate servants and feared by most of the gentry. How did the other people put up with him?

"How well do you obey orders?" He asked and Joey wondered what was the best thing to say without seeming out of place.

"If the master wants me to do something I'll do it."

"I like that sort of attitude-"

"But you're not my master so unless he allows it, I wouldn't do anything you told me to." Joey interrupted and Kaiba's nostrils flared. He hated disobedience amongst the lower classes.

"Even though you know who I am?" He demanded.

"I have only one master and I obey only his orders. Knowing who you are makes no difference." This sparked Kaiba's anger and he grabbed Joey, lifting him up slightly.

"Are you disrespecting my authority?" He stared at Joey but was distracted by a growl and Marik was standing closer, no longer looking shy, just enraged.

"Let go." He said and Kaiba stared at him in amazement. "Let go now." He repeated and when he didn't do anything, Marik roared and launched himself at Kaiba, slamming against the bars and managing to break his restraint at the same time. He grabbed the Lord and tried to smash his head against the cage while Joey held him off.

This struggle continued on for several more moments until Marik's rage left him and he slumped down on the ground, breathing heavily while Joey talked to him, trying to calm him down. Kaiba glared at the two people and was about to say something when Marik looked up at him, matching his look of loathing before skulking off to the back of the pen where he wrapped a blanket around himself and rocked back and forth.

"Wyou…" He whispered, eyes wide at the ground. "I want Wyou…WYOU!" He started screaming his name over and over again, like a howl but only much worse because he sounded in pain. Fettuccini frowned, things were not going well for him and he had to get the situation under control.

"Ryou, get over here right now!" He yelled and for a moment, there was no response. Then it came, quiet but sulky.

"I can't, you've tied me up." Although Ryou sounded in a bad mood, inside he was dancing for joy because now the master had a predicament. Did he let Marik out, someone likely to attack people if given half the chance or did he take the collar off Ryou, the disobedient one?

"Fine! Joey, let Marik out the back way and make sure he doesn't do anything else." Ryou sat there stunned for a moment. He was going to let Marik out when he knew full well he just wanted to attack Kaiba again and would do anything so he could? Although Ryou hadn't seen any of it, he could tell full well what was going on from the sounds and words. It was just a shame that it happened to be Lord Kaiba…

"Wyou?" So Marik didn't want to attack him again? He felt something sit down in front of him and guessing it was Marik, Ryou held his arms out and Marik settled himself in between them, relaxing as he felt Ryou's arms go around him. "Wyou, eyes…" He paused and fidgeted slightly. Ryou guessed he was trying to say something and wasn't sure how to. "See!" He suddenly said, touching his eyelids gently.

"I can't, the light hurts too much." Ryou explained, not sure if Marik would understand him.

"But Wyou, see…please." Marik obviously couldn't comprehend what Ryou had said. How did Joey talk to him? After thinking for a moment, it occurred to Ryou that Marik never used full sentences, only a couple of words. Maybe Marik couldn't understand if you said too many things at once.

"Eyes hurt, Marik." He said and this time Marik seemed to realise what he meant. He pulled himself out of Ryou's grip and taking the blanket from around him, draped it over the two of them.

"No light!" He said happily and Ryou opened his eyes a crack to see what had happened. He was surprised when he saw a grinning Marik kneeling in front of him and a black blanket covering the both of them, blocking out nearly all of the light.

"Thank you Marik." Ryou said and Marik moved so he was sitting next to Ryou, leaning his head on his shoulder.

"Want home…" He murmured, closing his eyes.

"Want home too." Ryou replied and they sat in silence, Ryou listening to see what was being said.

Kaiba had finally given up on getting Joey to obey his orders and he turned away in disgust, wondering what had happened for things to get to this state. None of them had noticed where Marik had disappeared to apart from Malik, wanting to make sure he didn't come after one of them. He noticed the dark blob in the corner and turned to Fettuccini to find out what it was.

"And what is in the corner?" He enquired and Fettuccini's nose wrinkled slightly, now was the hard part: Ryou. He liked to cause trouble, refuse to do what he was supposed to and he had to make sure that didn't happen.

"In the corner is Ryou." Fettuccini walked over but the others remained where they were, not too sure after what had happened with Marik. "Don't worry, he is not dangerous." He stood near Ryou and turned to him. "Are you going to behave today or do you want to be punished even more?" He hissed and Ryou sighed, standing up.

"Wyou!" Marik said, suddenly panicked by the lack of support.

"Stay Marik, me back soon." Hoping Marik would do as he said, he walked towards the master, blanket around his body.

"And take that thing off! How are they supposed to see you like that?" He snapped and Ryou hesitantly took it off, closing his eyes as the same time. He felt Marik beside him and he took the cloth, staying nearby in case Ryou was hurt.

"Wyou, big man bad." He whispered before sitting down again, glaring at the people standing nearby.

Ryou walked towards what he assumed was the group of people but quickly realised that he needed to open his eyes in order to have any hope of not crashing into something, especially as no one was helping him. He squinted and realised he was quite close to them before hissing at the pain and throwing his arms across his face.

"A vampire!" Yami yelled, taking a step backwards. They had all seen the white skin and hair but only Yami had glimpsed the red eyes, the reason why he'd yelled out in the first place. Ryou frowned when he heard this, that was a new word for him. Nevertheless he put his hands on his hips and huffed in annoyance.

"Of course I'm not a vampire!" He snapped but winced when he felt a hand smack the back of his head.

"Now is /_not_/ the time to be a rebel Ryou!" He heard Fettuccini growl close to his ear and he stepped forward to talk to the nobles properly. "Ryou is an albino and sensitive to sunlight so he stays here in the corner."

"Have you never seen the sun?" Malik suddenly asked him, stepping closer and Fettuccini was somehow forced backwards, like Malik's presence had caused it.

"No, I'm sensitive to concentrated areas of light like the sun and candles." He explained, not sure why he was trying to be courteous.

"Well that is a shame, to have never seen the beauty of a sunrise…"

"People like me aren't allowed time to see beautiful things my Lord, we are not deserving of them." Ryou said with great humility and when Malik didn't reply, he turned away so that he could open his eyes. It was hard to talk with one of your senses missing.

"Everyone should be allowed to see beautiful things." He suddenly said, moving so he was standing in front of Ryou once more. For some reason, Ryou didn't want him to see his eyes and he shut them again. "Please open your eyes, there's no need to keep them closed."

"Of course my Lord, I am in the wrong." He opened them but stared at his feet, the perfect image of a stunned and humble pauper.

"You didn't do anything wrong, don't worry." Suddenly Ryou felt something lift his head up and before he could close his eyes, he was looking into the face of Malik. Malik stared at the red eyes, surprised that they didn't make him look evil, just angry at everything and everyone. There was such a depth of fear in them…

But suddenly Ryou pulled away in fright, not understanding why the Lord had just done something that was considered one of the greatest taboos. There were boundaries in society, the upper class did not mingle with the lower classes unless it couldn't be avoided but those who looked different were seen to be 'untouchables'. But he had just touched him and not to tell him off either, he just wanted to see his face, which was strange enough anyway.

"What is this?" He felt the metal around his neck rubbing slightly as Malik touched it and suddenly remembered it. Why wasn't it holding him back? Ryou glanced around and noticed that Marik was standing next to the peg the chain was attached to, or at least the hole in the ground where it used to be. Marik smiled at him and Ryou noticed the first human like emotion: slyness, that he had just done something he wasn't supposed to.

"It is to remind me that I must obey orders."

"You seem to obey them anyway…" Malik murmured and Ryou was just about to stutter something in response when the one with the hair so similar to Yugi's glanced at his pocket watch and gasped, a most uncharacteristic noise for an aristocrat, who were supposed to be stoical.

"We should depart soon, the Duke of Westminster requires our presence at the gathering tonight." He commented and Ryou swore that Malik sighed and rolled his eyes slightly.

"Yes, we must depart but we will return tomorrow to enquire about a business transaction." The 'bad one', as Marik had called him, added and turned to walk away.

"Of course my Lords and Dukes, I cannot keep you all day." Fettuccini said, seeming to jump into action once more as he led them outside.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Ryou…" Malik said, bowing his head before following his friends out of the tent, leaving a madly blushing Ryou to wonder why he had said those words.

"I think Ryou's got a new friend…" Yugi commented in a mock-serious tone once they had all gone.

"He's not a friend, he just likes exerting his power over those below him." Ryou said, sniffing loudly and Yugi giggled. "Anyway, I'm not the only one. And /_you_/ started reciting poetry…"

"I only did it because he wanted me to say something!" Yugi said, sounding slightly hysterical. "I didn't want to sound like an idiot!"

"Ah don't worry Yugi, it was quite sweet actually." This just made Yugi blush and Ryou shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just worried about the fact they said they were coming back tomorrow."

"Not just coming back though, they want to 'enquire about a business transaction'. They just want us to be their personal slaves, something pretty to have by their side to impress the other knobs." Tristan pointed out and Joey shivered slightly.

"I don't want to go near Lord Kaiba again…" He said, a whimper escaping his mouth and Marik ran over, pulling him into a hug.

"It be fine…" He whispered and Joey smiled, hugging him back.

"Yes, we'll all be together." Tristan added and Ryou was just about to say something when the master came back in, forcing them to be silent.

xxxxxx

"You behaved most improperly today Malik, tomorrow you must restrain yourself. And you too Yami, it is most unbecoming." Kaiba said when they were sitting in the carriage once more.

"Yes Lord Kaiba." Malik said in a childish voice, only to receive a glare from Kaiba.

"You may treat it like a joke but it is vitally important to behave respectfully tomorrow."

"Now that you mention that, what did you mean by a business transaction? Surely you don't mean to buy them all?" Bakura interrupted, looking almost alarmed.

"No, merely that animal Joey."

"Oh dear, another case of Kaiba exerting his power over something that doesn't deserve to be put through your torture." Duke muttered and also faced Kaiba's glare. "You know you'll keep him for a couple of months at the most and then dump him when you get bored."

"Oh this one will not bore me, it is far too fascinating…" Kaiba's eyes held a glint that his friends knew meant they wouldn't be able to dissuade him from carrying out his plan. They sighed as one, knowing it would occupy him for the rest of the evening. Which was bad when it came to old uppity arse, he was suspicious about everything…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They had managed to survive the night before, although they weren't exactly sure how. Toleration and the Duke of Westminster weren't two things that went well together, especially if your name was Lord Kaiba. He had made a lot of enquiries into their lives as usual, being seen as the aristocrat invigilator, making sure no one did anything that could be seen as vaguely scandalous, especially the young ones. Kaiba was annoyed because he hated people prying into his private life while Bakura and Malik slightly feared him because they had always been on the borders of decency. Duke couldn't see what the point of it all was while Yami just accepted it as one of those unavoidable things in life. They had tried to leave early of course but had been stopped with yet more questions about what they were going to do in London. When they couldn't give a coherent answer, the Duke had suggested things for them to do and they thanked him for his 'oh so inspiring words' and advice they had been given before finally escaping.

Now the next day had arrived and Kaiba was a lot more excited than he had been in a long time. He was going to invest in something that although had at first disgusted him, was now going to be his next project. The thought of something that would obey his every whim fascinated him and he was going to test it out to the full.

The others had done a lot of talking around him but when pressed on the matter they refused to talk, saying it was just his imagination or was Kaiba getting paranoid? He hated being called that so he stopped asking what was going on, assuming they were laughing at his increasing exasperation at old uppity arse the night before.

They arrived at the tent and were greeted by a rather eager Fettuccini. He had spent the night contemplating the amount of money he could get out of the rich men, knowing it was the opportunity of a lifetime. For if there was one thing Fettuccini loved, it was money and lots of it.

"Good morning my Lords and Dukes!" He said cheerfully and Kaiba rolled his eyes, causing the others to smirk. It was another case of a poor person desperate for money…

"Are they in here?" Kaiba merely asked, trying to ignore the bouncing man who was starting to irritate him greatly.

"Yes Lord Kaiba." He replied, leading them into the tent where the aristocrats were hit by a wall of sombreness caused by the five teenagers, afraid and upset at what was going to happen. They had all promised each other last night that they were all going to stick together and that meant being disobedient. But now they were less sure, especially Joey, who was the biggest concern because of Lord Kaiba and his interest in him.

"Now I hope you remember my words from yesterday, Fettuccini…" Kaiba started as he walked towards Joey. "I expect we can reach some sort of agreement."

"I would certainly like to think so too Lord Kaiba. Now which one were you looking at?" As they both stood in front of Joey and Marik's pen, the others watched them carefully, hoping Joey could remember what he was supposed to do.

"This one…" Kaiba's voice was low and the words reverberated through Joey's skull, making him realise it was now or never.

"Joey, come here now!" Fettuccini barked and Joey smiled, looking Kaiba straight in the eye as he stepped forward, almost looking furtive.

"Yes slang cove (1)?" He said, loud enough for the others to hear and they couldn't help but grin, realising he was speaking in cant, a dialect that only the criminals and various other street people used. Fettuccini himself only knew a couple of words but luckily he understood Joey's last words.

"That's master to you!" This however went unnoticed by Joey as he suddenly clambered over the pen and started walking around Kaiba.

"A jemmy eh? What d'ya say?" He seemed to ask the others and they all stared at Kaiba too, considering him.

"A glock more like!" Tristan argued, shaking his head at Joey's words in false astonishment at his bad judgment.

"No, lushington!" Ryou interrupted, trying to stop himself from laughing at the bewildered look on Kaiba's face. "Yugi?"

"Wait, Marik says kenneteeno!" It was turning into an auction; everyone putting in their part and soon it was left for Yugi to make the final judgment.

"Bacca-pipes, proper kecks, head lodged firmly up his nancy, puckering, square rigged, trasseno…" He paused and the others burst into laughter, not helped by the fact they were the only ones who knew what they were talking about. "Jemmy alright!"

"Yes!" Joey yelled, having won the auction. Suddenly Kaiba grabbed him and brought him close to his face, ready to deal out his punishment.

"I demand you tell me what you just said!"

"No granny? Voker romeny?" He merely asked, causing Kaiba to scowl. "Voker romeny?" He said again slowly, as though the Lord was an idiot. "Yep Tristan, we got us a glock!"

Kaiba continued to stare at Joey for a moment, trying to work out what he was saying when he realised that wasn't important. Joey was merely trying to annoy him enough so he would forget about him but now he had worked out Joey's plan, he was even more determined to do whatever was necessary to get him, to make him his own.

"How much?" He said, throwing Joey down and turning back to Fettuccini. Joey looked around at the others, panic on his face, totally unsure of what to do next. They matched his expression, wondering if there was anything they could do to change things.

"Five hundred pounds (2)." Fettuccini said boldly, knowing now was the make or break situation.

"Fine, five hundred." Kaiba said, the money meaning nothing to him. The Lords all stared at each other, wondering if Kaiba was still sane or not. No one was worth that much!

"You sure were /_bone_/ (1) boy." Fettuccini said, smirking at his words at the look on Joey's face before pushing him over. "Should I send for the bill?"

"My accountant will be over tomorrow to sort out the details." Kaiba said offhand and was about to grab Joey when he heard someone yell out.

"Leave him alone!" Marik stalked forward, his eyes almost glowing in the loathing he felt for the person who was going to take his friend away.

"Marik, if you don't stop right now you're going to the spike!" Fettuccini bellowed but Marik ignored him, instead taking something from his pocket. A knife specifically. Marik brandished it with obvious skill and Kaiba felt his heart flutter, just slightly but Joey was the one who acted, taking Marik's hand in his and prising the blade away from his fingers.

"No Marik, me go." He whispered, wiping Marik's tears away when he started to cry. "Be good please?" Marik threw himself at Joey, trying to stop him from going but Joey shook the arms off him, staring at him mournfully.

"Don't go…"

"I have to, don't do this Marik…" He walked away, leaving Marik sobbing while Ryou tried to support him, providing a small amount of comfort.

"Come on dog, we have not got all day." Kaiba growled, annoyed with the whole pathetic scene as he finally got hold of Joey and started dragging him out.

"Wait Kaiba, you can't do this to them." Duke hissed at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I can do whatever I want."

"Oh you're beyond belief sometimes! You are the most-" Kaiba sighed and turned away, starting to walk out of the tent. "Excuse me, don't walk away until I'm finished!" They both left the tent, still arguing and Joey followed, not sure of what else to do.

Meanwhile Bakura, Yami and Malik were slightly puzzled, wondering if Duke was doing this on purpose so that the plan would work. For while Kaiba was being harassed by the Duke of Westminster, they had decided to do the same as him: buy one of the teenagers each and…well they weren't exactly sure but they were drawn to them, they were so different. Bakura decided to go for it, stepping forward to Ryou and Marik.

"Do you want to be with Joey, Marik?" He didn't respond, whether because he didn't hear or didn't /_want_/ to at least, Bakura wasn't sure but he repeated the question anyway, this time to Ryou.

"What do you think, of course he does!" Bakura ignored the bite behind Ryou's words and continued on.

"Well if he comes with me then he can be with Joey as often as possible." Marik lifted his head up at this, he hadn't quite understood all of the words but he got the general meaning of the sentence.

"In fact we want you all to come with us." Yami added, holding his hand out as though an offering of peace.

"But why?" There was a pause after Ryou's question, as they tried to think of a way to phrase their answer.

"Think of it as an opportunity of a lifetime." Yami said quietly and Yugi nodded his head, seeming to not realise he was doing so.

"Then it is a deal." Fettuccini was at this moment beyond happiness, he was going to become filthy rich! He didn't care about the fact that he was going to lose them; he had more performers who weren't so rebellious anyway.

"I don't know…" Ryou murmured, this was all going too fast for him. _I mean, what do they want to do with us apart from sell us on or use us for their own personal pleasure…_ It may have been illegal but there were rumours that the aristocracy were fond of young boys, of having a good time with them…

"I would like you to come with us…" Malik said quietly, making sure he caught Ryou's eye but he didn't respond, looking at the others to see their reaction. Yugi seemed quite happy while Tristan looked detached from the whole situation and even Marik appeared slightly hopeful, actually following his own feelings instead of the ones of others.

"So your accountants will be over tomorrow too then?" As far as Fettuccini was concerned, this was the most important thing; he was going to get his money.

"Yes, you will get your money /_glock_/ and I hope we never have the misfortune of doing business with you again." And with that Malik took Ryou's arm and led him out of the tent, the rest seeming to fall into line, Yugi and Tristan wondering how an aristocrat could know any cant and how things were suddenly different while Fettuccini looked on, unable to respond to the Lord's words.

Ryou didn't realise what was happening until he felt the sun burn onto every part of him and he cried out in pain, feeling his eyes water but suddenly he sensed something around him, warm and protecting from the agony he had been feeling moments ago. He realised it was a person and he was in their arms, his face buried in their starched shirt and their beating heart against his ear.

_Starched shirt? Wait, I'm not…_ He glanced up quickly and saw the face of Malik looking down at him in concern, his face a dark blot on Ryou's blurred sight.

"I am sorry, I forgot about the light. I hope you're not too hurt…" Ryou was about to reply when another noise entered his brain: a voice, slightly high pitched and drawling at the same time.

"So you finally decided to come out! I was starting to run out of things to say here!" It was the man who had left with Lord Kaiba, the one who was concerned about Marik and Joey. He seemed different to the others, less accepting of his role and Ryou instantly liked him. He could relate better to him somehow.

"So you did that on purpose then?" Bakura asked, glad that his thoughts on the issue were right.

"Of course! God, you're slow on the uptake today!" Duke looked around and saw passers by were staring at him, obviously disturbed by the blasphemy. He sighed flamboyantly, running a hand through his hair. "Now that's sorted out, let's get back. It's been far too much drama for me for one day."

"Will someone tell me why /_they_/ are all standing here with /_us_?" Kaiba said in his usual gruff tones and Duke rolled his eyes, taking Tristan, who happened to be nearest to him, and plonking him in front of Kaiba's view.

"Well we thought that your idea was so good that we were going to do the same thing." He lowered his voice slightly. "Not the whole power trip thing of course though…"

"Is that what you were talking about last night?"

"Still feeling paranoid? Yes, that is what we were talking about last night." He tipped his head slightly, pulling his hat down and lifting his cane up. "Now I hope you have some spare bedrooms, we'll need them for tonight."

"Then you will have to take a hansom (3) back to my house while I and Bakura will take the carriage. I do not really want another wet scene today." And with that Kaiba stalked off, leaving Bakura to run after him with Marik.

"You had better go first my Lord, Ryou won't last much longer…" Yugi said quietly to Malik and he looked down in shock, trying to get Ryou to look at him.

"Ryou, please say something…"

"I feel dizzy…" He said eventually, groaning quietly before sitting down on the ground. "I just need some air…"

"Come on Ryou, can you walk?" Malik leant down and helped Ryou up, letting him lean against him as they walked across the street to where a hansom was waiting.

"Good afternoon my Lord, would you like to go somewhere?" The man sitting on top of the carriage enquired and Malik nodded his head.

"Yes, could you take me to May View House and be quick about it please?" The driver got down from his seat and held the door open for Malik, his face remaining neutral when he saw Ryou, not even batting an eyelid.

"Of course my Lord, I'll be there as soon as possible." Malik merely nodded his head, turning back to Ryou who had nearly fallen off the seat.

"We'll be back soon Ryou, just hold on please." He held the boy close to him as the carriage started to move, unsure of what to do once he got back to Kaiba's. Hopefully there was a doctor nearby who could help… Malik felt so guilty, he had forgotten and it was his carelessness that was going to be his undoing.

"Sarah, why are we moving so fast? Sarah, we're going to crash…" He heard Ryou mumble and he tried to ignore it, willing the driver to go faster…

xxxxxx

"Well here you are, you got what you wanted…" Bakura commented as they sat in Kaiba's brougham (4), their two purchases leaning against each other in the corner across from them, eyes closed and still.

"And I appear to not be the only one, Bakura. Why did you decide to…?" This was the first thing in a long time that puzzled him, he was usually sure of the reasons for everyone's actions but there didn't seem to be one now…

"I do not know. Interest, a wish to try and make their lives better, a fear of splitting them up…" Kaiba looked strangely at Bakura and he shrugged his shoulders. "It is obvious they have been together for a long time and that they are not treated very well." Bakura leant forward to show Kaiba the bruises he had found just glancing over Marik but Joey's eyes snapped open, warning him away silently. Obviously he was awake and had been listening to their words.

"And why should any of this matter to you? They are just objects to possess." Kaiba commented, causing Bakura to stare at him in amazement.

"Well that is what /_you_/ may think but the rest of us want to try and make their lives better. They are human beings…" Bakura saw the incredulous look on Kaiba's face and stopped talking, not seeing the point in continuing a pointless task.

"They are below us Bakura, that is the most important fact and they will be treated so."

xxxxxx

"Well I think he has just got a case of heat exhaustion, his skin does not help the situation." Dr. Roger Garrod, a celebrated doctor who was at the forefront of medical progress, murmured, staring down at the figure lying on the bed. "He should be put into a cold bath and I will check his temperature until it has lowered to a satisfactory level." Servants were commanded to do this and as they did so, Malik turned to him.

"Will he recover?" He was seriously worried; his condition had degenerated just during the coach journey, eventually fainting as he was brought into the house. They had immediately called the doctor, who lived nearby and he had spent the last ten minutes checking Ryou before making the decision above.

"Yes, from what you said he has not actually been in contact with the sun for a long time, he is just very sensitive. He simply needs a cold bath, a couple of days rest and he will be fine." Dr Garrod explained and the servant came in, telling them that the tub was ready. "Thank you. Right, I think he will have to be carried to the bath, he is still too out of it to walk himself." Immediately assuming the role as carrier, since the gentry were not supposed to do any work, he stepped forward but was beaten to the bed by Malik, who gently scooped Ryou into his arms and headed towards the bathroom, led by the servant.

Ryou stirred, feeling jolted after being still for a long time and saw he was being carried somewhere, although he couldn't make much else out, everything was spinning just slightly. He relaxed, feeling safe until he felt a hand at his chest. He panicked, not knowing what was going on.

"No…get off…" He mumbled, trying to push the hands away. He felt vulnerable, he wanted someone here he knew, to protect him. "Yugi…"

"Ryou, please relax. You're heating up and the doctor says you have to get into the bath to feel better." Malik said, kneeling down beside him on the floor. "The doctor just wants to take your clothes off so you they don't irritate your skin anymore."

"Yugi…" Malik quickly realised that he wasn't going to say anything else so the maid went to fetch him, having to nearly run to catch up to him as he rushed to his friend's side.

"Ryou, it's going to be all right, I'm here now." Yugi said gently, grabbing his hand and Ryou felt reassured, squeezing in response before allowing the doctor to take off his clothes and place him in the bath. He sank downwards, finally feeling release and Yugi let go, knowing Ryou would be fine now.

"There, that should do it." Dr Garrod said in relief as he dried his hands off. "What is he anyway?"

"He's an albino." Yugi replied and he nodded his head in understanding.

"Yes, I suspected so but I could not be sure because I did not look at his eyes. An albino eh…I know someone who is very interested in them…" He commented, mainly to himself and Yugi pulled a face.

"What, to experiment on?" Dr Garrod heard the tone of voice and smiled, laughing humouredly.

"No, not all scientists want to experiment on people. He tries to improve their lives, things like their eyesight and sensitive skin. Maybe Ryou would like to talk him sometime." He left this as an open invitation while he took Ryou's temperature, studying the thermometer carefully. "Yes, his temperature is lowering quickly now. Now when he wakes up he will need a lot of water and a small amount of salt needs to be mixed in." He instructed Malik and he nodded his head in understanding.

"What's the salt for?"

"To prevent muscle cramps. He does not look too dehydrated but he is obviously underweight so he will need to start eating regularly too. That is probably why he reacted so strongly after just a few minutes. Once he has put some weight on he will be able to tolerate the sun better." Ryou's temperature was once more measured and now satisfied, Dr Garrod lifted him out of the bath where the maid took over, drying him off before taking him back to the bed.

"I wish to thank you again, you don't know how much this means to me…" Malik said breathlessly but Dr Garrod brushed it aside.

"Think nothing of it, I am in this profession because I love to see people and their differences. It was a pleasure to meet Ryou, even if we did not get to talk." He replied, putting on his hat and coat again as they walked down the stairs. "If there are /_any_/ problems, please feel free to call for my assistance."

"Of course Dr Garrod and good day to you." He tipped his hat in respect before stepping out of the door and disappearing into the rapidly descending night.

"Is there anything you would like me to do my Lord?" The maid who had helped him asked.

"Yes, could you get me some water, salt and some plain food please?" She curtseyed in understanding and went to get the items.

Malik trudged back up the stairs and into the room Ryou was sleeping in once more. Pulling up a chair he sat down beside the bed, watching Ryou's now steady breathing until he opened his eyes and turned to look at Malik. After taking in the figure beside him, he gazed around the room, not quite sure what to make of it all. He remembered he was in the tent and they were bought… Was this person his new master and was this place his new home? What about the others?

"What…? Why…?" He murmured, closing his eyes once more. He felt comfortable, more than he had done for a long time in fact, he was drowning in warmth…

"You collapsed, remember? I took you here to Lord Kaiba's house and a doctor saw you. He said you were going to be fine after a few days. We'll go back to my house then…" Malik explained, not sure if Ryou was listening.

"Oh…" There was a knock on the door before the maid entered, holding a tray which she placed on the table beside the bed and then left the room.

"Here Ryou, have something to eat and drink." Malik said, picking up the jug and filling the glass with water before spooning in some salt, tasting it to make sure it wasn't too strong. Once satisfied he held the glass out to Ryou who took it gladly and drank most of it straight away, smiling at Malik for the first time as he gave the glass back.

"Thank you." His face suddenly dropped though when he saw the roll held in Malik's hand.

"The doctor says you have to start eating, it's the only way to stop you from reacting so badly to the sun." Ryou shook his head at Malik's request, burying his face in his arms.

"No, I don't want to eat, please don't make me…" He heard Ryou mumble and looking up, he saw the roll and growled in anger. "I DON'T WANT IT! GO AWAY!" He screamed, knocking the roll out of Malik's hand as he continued to yell. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME EAT IT! I WON'T, WON'T!" It was clear this was causing Ryou a lot of distress and the last thing Malik wanted was for him to collapse again. So he backed away from the situation, sighing and standing up.

"It's all right Ryou, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to." He said, trying to soothe the boy and he quietened down slowly, although he didn't say anything. "Do you want to see your friends?" He nodded his head and Malik walked to the door, not surprised when he found them all sitting on the floor nearby.

"Can we see him please?" Yugi asked as Malik closed the door behind him.

"Yes, of course you can but try and make him eat something please? The doctor says he won't get better unless he does but he's refusing at the moment."

"Yes, we heard." Tristan muttered and Malik laughed nervously, realising they might see him in a bad light because of that.

"Ryou can be like that sometimes. He doesn't eat very often; he says it makes him feel sick. But we'll try our best." The others stood up and followed Yugi into the room while Malik left to find his fellow aristocrats and see what they were doing.

The four of them entered the room, allowing their eyes to get used to the gloom before making their way over to the bed where they found Ryou looking very put out. He smiled however when he saw them and they sat themselves around and on his bed.

"Hello everyone." He said quietly and they noticed for the first time how unwell he was. Although they had always known he wasn't exactly the healthiest person, they could only now see that he was on the verge of collapse, that it was a surprise he was still around, able to talk to them, to refuse what he desperately needed.

"How are you feeling?" Yugi asked, knowing that whatever the answer, it would be nowhere near the truth.

"Better now, I think it was more surprise than anything else…" Ryou smiled, trying to reassure Yugi but this only concerned him more.

"Ryou, you can't say that! You look like you're going to collapse at any minute. Please don't say you're fine because it doesn't look like you are…" Yugi was almost begging, crawling closer to Ryou, to try and get him to meet his gaze but he stared at his knees, although he was blushing slightly.

"Don't worry about me, I'll live. It doesn't matter, as long as everyone else is all right." Yugi sighed and picked up another roll from the tray on the table.

"If you eat this I won't ever ask you again. Agreed?" He held it out to Ryou and he stiffened once more, his face contorting as conflicting opinions passed through him. He hated eating in front of them but for the first time he realised that he probably should, or he might prove Yugi's words right.

Marik had been watching all of this, not really understanding what they were saying but he knew that Ryou wasn't looking very well and that the thing in Yugi's hand might help him, that it was food that Ryou would eat, although he didn't know what it was called. Maybe Ryou was nervous about eating it, like he and Joey were every morning. Maybe he should do the same thing, to make Ryou feel better… He held his hand out to Yugi and he gave him the roll hesitatingly, not really understanding what Marik was going to do. He stared at it for a second before leaning in towards Ryou, to get his attention.

"Wyou…me try?" He saw Ryou lift his head up and he laughed quietly, his eyes sparkling as he remembered all the times he had said the same thing to Marik and Joey in the past. He nodded his head and Marik ripped a bit of it off before sniffing it carefully. Well, he didn't know what it was but it looked all right… He put it in his mouth, surprised when he felt how soft it was. It was very different to what he usually had… "Nothing wrong!" His voice chimed out, causing the others to laugh and Ryou took the rest of the roll.

He gripped it tightly in his hands, his large thin fingers seeming to dig into it as he raised it to his mouth and bit into it. He felt his jaw clicking as it worked to try and break the food down and he eventually swallowed, after it had finally been chewed to a small enough size. He sat there for a moment, feeling it slide down but something was odd, it was going the wrong way…

"Ryou?" Yugi yelled out as Ryou leapt off the bed, rushing into the bathroom as he desperately tried to find the toilet. Yugi followed him and found him down on his knees, shaking as he retched loudly. He brushed Ryou's hair back, holding onto it as he closed his eyes, trying to get his breath back.

"I think…I ate it…too fast…" Ryou sat up properly but avoided Yugi's eyes, feeling ashamed about what had just happened. Was he that feeble that he couldn't even swallow a little bit of bread?

"Yes, you haven't really eaten anything for a long time." Yugi slid his arms around Ryou's waist and tried to pull him up. "Come on, let's go back and try again." Ryou considered his words, realising that Yugi wasn't telling him off, telling him he was weak. He nodded his head and stood up, leaving the bathroom with Yugi.

Having learnt not to go so fast, Ryou ate the rest of the roll slowly and they chatted idly while he finished it off. When it was gone Ryou joined in the conversation, enjoying his friends being with him, talking and getting along. Even Marik looked happy, allowing Tristan to sit next to him when before he would have just run away.

They heard a knock on the door before it opened and the one who looked like Yugi entered the room, his face unreadable as he glanced over them before stepping closer to be able to talk to them more easily.

"It is getting late so I thought I would show you where you are sleeping so you know where to go." He explained and the group looked at each other, wondering if they would have to sleep with the aristocrats when Tristan yawned loudly.

"Oh, sorry…" He laughed nervously and shrugged his shoulders. "More tired than I thought I was." He explained to the room in general.

"Yes, maybe we should go now." Yugi added, glancing over at Ryou, knowing that he needed the respite more than the rest of them.

They said goodbye to each other before being led out of the room by the Lord, Joey giving Ryou a last glance as he shut the door behind him. They were glad when they found out they were sleeping in separate rooms to the Lords, Tristan and Yugi in one and Joey and Marik in the other. Yami opened the door and when Joey and Marik didn't do anything, he pushed them slightly over the threshold before shutting it behind them, leaving them alone in the room.

They stared at the room in wonder, having never even thought that things like the ones in front of their eyes could exist. Marik whimpered, he didn't understand why there were so many objects, clinging to Joey and turning to him to try and find out what they all did. Joey smiled at his ignorance, leading him to the bed before sitting down on it and indicating for Marik to do the same. He did so, frowning when he felt the softness of it. He shifted once and then again, wondering how he was supposed to sleep in this thing which had no means of supporting him.

"Joey, no like." He said shortly and Joey nodded his head in understanding. They stood up and Joey pulled the blanket off the bed and the pillows before throwing them on the ground, resting his head against the pillow and pulling the blanket around him and Marik, who had followed his movements.

"Better?" Joey asked, smiling when he saw Marik's eyelids drooping as he cuddled close to him.

"Yes…" He murmured and Joey sighed, also closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, comforted by the familiarity of Marik against him.

* * *

Right, here are the definitions of the words. Please tell me in your review (hint, hint) if it would be easier to have it in brackets after the words in the story instead.

(1) Slang cove - Showman

Jemmy - Smart, of superior class

Glock - Half wit

Lushington - Drunkard

Kenneteeno - Bad, stinking, putrid

Bacca-pipes - Whiskers curled in small, close ringlets

Kecks - Trousers

Nancy - Buttocks

Puckering - Speaking in a fashion incomprehensible to spectators

Square rigged - Soberly and respectably dressed

Trasseno - Bad, a bad person

Granny - Understand, recognise

Voker romeny- Can you speak cant?

Bone - Good, profitable

Spike - Workhouse

(2) Five hundred pounds - Worth around £100,000 or roughly 155,250 these days

(3) Hansom - A carriage for two that was hired (like a taxi I suppose)

(4) Brougham - Boxlike carriage, which held four people

Well there you go, the second part done. PLEASE REVIEW and tell me what you think sometime and I'll see you in the next two weeks (this may be late due to the fact I am going on a few university visits during the half term so I won't have much time to write).

S. Chensu xxx.


	3. A Christmas Requiem

Hey everyone! This was originally going to be the last part but so many things happen that it would have been too long. Therefore I'm going to split it into two. And then of course I came up with another idea so there are going to be six chapters. As you can tell from the summary.

And as for wondering what I can do now…don't be surprised that something major happens. After all it was obvious they weren't going to be happy together. Hehe, just call it the authoress causing problems for the little innocent ones…

But before I spoil the plot, I'm going to reply to some reviewers!

**Sami Ryou's Hikari** – A new reviewer! That always makes me happy. Thank you, you lifted my spirits and now I'm going to continue so that everyone can find out what happens at the end. But although the fact Yugi and Mai liking it may be a good thing, Yugi isn't really that fussy. As long as it's got YY x Y in it, she's happy. And Mai will usually agree with her. But now I'm putting myself down so I'll shut up and let you read the next part.

**Yugi and Mai**- Hey, don't worry about the late review, it's perfectly understandable. Thanks for the compliments but the YY x Y fluff won't happen until the next chapter. Which I have to finish first…

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the name Fettuccini (Care Bears). The only things that are mine are the story and the OCs Harry, Silas, Susie, Jenkins and George Smith.

**Warning**: As a reminder from the first chapter, this is a yaoi story (male x male) so if you don't like it then please don't read and then complain. This part will have no dialect but instead has some place names. These are explained at the end so look out for the numbers in brackets. No swearing but there will be horrible sex stuff with Joey so be careful.

**Note**: "Blah" is speaking, #_blah_# is thinking/_blah_/ is emphasis, xxxxxx is a change of scene and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is a change of viewpoint/passing of time.

So let's get on with the third part of 'The Variety Show'!

* * *

**Part three: A Christmas Requiem**

Time passed in its usual fashion, shifting and changing the places and people in the world as events rolled by them, affecting them in different ways. Even the richest people are no exception to this law and soon most of the nobles came to realise how much they cared about the teens they looked after. They were human beings after all who had concerns and they tried to do their best to care for their welfare. They wanted to make them happy, to see them smile at the little things /_they_/ had always taken for granted. Like being 'normal'. They had never realised how badly others treated you if you didn't look like you were supposed to. Most of them could get away with it but Ryou fared no such luck. Although he had recovered and now could go out in the Sun more often, he didn't dare to for fear of the things he would hear said about him. Malik tried to support him but Ryou would just shut himself off from the rest of the world and refuse to talk about it.

The person who had it the worst though was Joey. His 'master', as he had been forced to call Lord Kaiba, didn't want him to be happy and he didn't care much about his welfare either. The others tried to soften the blows that Kaiba landed, mentally and emotionally, but they knew it was dangerous to get too involved as he had a nasty temper and was not tolerant of people trying to tell him he was doing something wrong. Anyway, the thing was just an animal as far as he was concerned.

Now the trees outside were covered in snow and fires crackled merrily in the houses, keeping their occupants warm. The inhabitants of one particular house were currently chatting and laughing, as well as trying to get a certain Lord /_very_/ drunk…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"How many has he had now?" Yami whispered worriedly to Duke who held a bottle of brandy in his hand.

"I'm not sure…but I think this might be the shot that tips him over the scales…" Yami reluctantly held out a tumbler and Duke poured a generous shot before handing it over to Kaiba. "Here you go Kaiba…" He took it, staring blearily at it for a moment before downing it in one go. He remained sitting for a few seconds and then promptly keeled sideways on to the sofa fast asleep.

"And it's a new world record! Kaiba falls asleep after just four shots of brandy!" Malik said excitedly, having watched the whole scene out of the corner of his eye.

"Master…?" Joey asked, kneeling in front of him, a frown on his face.

"Stop calling him that Joey! There's nothing wrong with him, he's merely had a little bit too much to drink. Serves him right, claiming he had a stomach of steel." Duke tisked as he placed the bottle back on the table. "He'll sleep for the rest of the evening and when he wakes up in the morning he'll have forgotten what happened the night before. Don't worry."

"Are you sure?" Joey said hesitantly and when Duke nodded his head, he smiled and stretched loudly. "Then we should put him away."

"You're joking right? Do you know how much he weighs? He takes the whole 'living rich' thing far too seriously, what with the amount he eats." Duke grabbed his legs and lifted them onto the sofa. "He'll be fine like this."

"When are you going to tell him?" Malik suddenly heard whispered in his ear and he whipped around, only to be faced by Bakura. He wondered what he was talking about for a moment when he saw Bakura staring pointedly at the two people sitting on a sofa, one reading a book to the other: Ryou and Marik. He could feel his heart swell at the thought of Ryou, his gentle little angel. He loved him so much but he hadn't told him, instead pouring his feelings out to Bakura, who had surprisingly understood. And now he was bringing the subject up…

"Tonight." Malik said abruptly, quickly coming to the decision that he couldn't put it off any longer if he wasn't going to go insane.

"Then we had better be going…" He heard someone else murmur and realised that it was Yami. How did he know about him and his feelings for Ryou? He was obviously a lot more aware for his age than they first thought. "Come little one, it is your bed time." He said to Yugi, who frowned at being called this, although he would never admit to liking it in the back of his mind.

"What? But it's only ten O'clock and I'm fourteen!" He exclaimed and Yami laughed at the cuteness of Yugi when he was angry. He always bounced a lot…

"Which means it is /_well_/ after your bedtime." Yugi pouted at this and Yami shrugged his shoulders. "I have seen you shut your eyes half a dozen times at least in the last minute." He explained before picking Yugi up, smiling when he felt his arms go around his neck. "Goodnight everyone." Yami whispered before walking out of the room with Yugi, who had already dozed off again.

"You know, they are a really sweet little couple…" Bakura commented to Malik and he started at this, not expecting something like that to come from him.

"Yes, I guess they are…" He replied before bringing his attention to Ryou who was saying something to the room in general.

"I'm a bit tired too so I'm going now." Seeing his chance to talk to Ryou, Malik made a similar excuse before leaving with Ryou next to him.

Thoughts swam around Malik's head as he thought about how he was going to tell Ryou about his feelings. Should he just kiss him or say it subtly? Starting off gently would be a good idea for the moment…

"What were you reading to Marik?" He asked, remembering the two of them sitting on the sofa.

"'A Christmas Carol' by Dickens. I'm not really sure if he understands it all but he seems to enjoy it anyway. Maybe because it's nearly Christmas and it's something new to him." Ryou replied neutrally, not pointing out that he had never had a Christmas before either. At least not for a long time…

"Yes, Christmas is always nice…" Malik said vaguely and Ryou stopped, puzzled by the way he was acting. So he decided to go for the plunge. "Do you enjoy being here with the others? With me?"

"Of…course I do but…I don't understand, why are you suddenly asking me this?"

"Because…" Malik stepped forward so that Ryou's back was against the banister before gently cupping his face with his hand. "I want you to stay with me forever…" He whispered, bringing his head closer to Ryou's, kissing him…

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ryou all but screamed, pushing Malik away from him as he shook from head to toe in fear. What had he done to deserve that…?

"I…I love you…" Why did Ryou look so afraid? Surely he wanted this as well? Didn't he feel the same way? Malik couldn't concentrate properly, there were so many questions going around his head…

"No you don't!" Ryou snapped, turning around and gripping the banister in his anger. "You just wanted to take advantage of me." He muttered, flinching when he felt something touch his cheek: his own tears. He felt so betrayed… "I'm just someshe-sheet (**1**)to you, aren't I? I trusted you!" His voice was rising and he choked back a sob, still not daring to face Malik.

"But…" Now he had made Ryou cry, he had hurt him, just because of his own /_stupid_/ feelings! He had promised to always put Ryou first and now he was mad at him. The person he cared about the most in the whole wide world…

"Do you love me?" He sounded so detested, so abhorrent at the suggestion that Malik quickly realised that Ryou couldn't handle the truth now. He didn't want to lie to him but if it meant him being happier than he would otherwise, then he was willing to put away his heart, for him…

"No, I don't." Those words felt like he was being stabbed at his soul, his very reason for living but he said them anyway, they /_had_/ to be said.

"Then I have to go-"

"Is that not what you wanted me to say?" Wait, he didn't think this would happen, what did he mean by having to leave? Where was he going to go? He certainly couldn't be considering Fettuccini…

"I don't know, I don't know. Please don't ask me, just let me go…" He pushed himself away from the banister and started to walk back down the stairs, trying to avoid Malik's eyes. He didn't want to know what he was thinking, he didn't want to give himself an excuse to stay here…

"Will you be gone forever?" He had to say those words so that he would know; he didn't want to be in doubt for the rest of his life, to wait for something that would never happen… Ryou didn't say anything, now starting down the stairs and Malik assumed he hadn't heard him. Not that the answer would have mattered, he would have waited for all eternity if necessary until he returned.

"Wait Ryou!" He heard a shout from a room and saw Yugi standing at the doorway, looking a lot more awake than he had before. "We promised each other that we were going to stay together." He bounded down the stairs until he was level with Ryou and stared at him, able to see his eyes where Malik couldn't. He wondered what they looked like…

"And you're not going without me. I made that promise too, remember?" People seemed to be coming out of the woodwork, now Tristan was there too, walking towards Ryou.

"Yugi, what are you doing awake? I thought you were asleep." Ryou said, ignoring their comments about him leaving.

"Well your yelling woke me up! Anyway, you're trying to ignore what I just said!"

"You're not coming with me…" Ryou muttered, striding to the entrance as everyone else watched on.

"Ryou you could lock us up and we'd still come with you because we don't break promises so don't try and be all noble on us!" Tristan said loudly, catching up with him and grabbing his arm. "Some people…"

"Ryou…?" He turned around and saw Marik staring at him with wide eyes. His speaking had improved while he was here although he had more trouble with reading. He knew what was going on, Bakura had talked to him about Malik and he thought Marik hadn't really understood but he did. He just felt sad for Malik…

"Marik I have to go but look after Joey please? He's going to need you more than he needs us…" They looked over at Joey but he didn't notice their gazes, seeming to be in his own world.

"And you're needed too/_he'll_/ need you rest of his life." Marik replied and Ryou was eerily reminded of what Malik had said to him. But how could he know about that?

"No one needs me Marik except for Fettuccini."

"Don't go back Ryou, he doesn't deserve you." Marik snapped, shaking his head. "We need you make us laugh but I understand why you go. Not too long though?" Ryou didn't reply to this, instead hugging Marik tightly before turning away, a wall of silence to anything else said to him.

"Yugi, if you are going then I want you to have this." Yami knelt down beside Yugi and he watched as Yami took his hand and placed something in it, curling his fingers around it afterwards. "Maybe you will remember me sometimes." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe you will come back one day…" He whispered to himself, making sure he didn't cry in front of him. He knew that Yugi's friends were the most important thing to him and he wasn't going to get in his way.

"Of course I'll remember you, don't be silly! As if I could forget." Yami smiled at this, that was why he loved Yugi, he was always so cheerful.

#_Why I…love him? Do I?_# There was no point in thinking about this now that he was leaving. But still…

Yugi opened his hand and stared at the ring, a simple gold band which seemed to say so much, before looking at Yami kneeling on the floor in front of him, his eyes bright and he threw his arms around him, burying his face in Yami's shoulder. He felt Yami bringing him in closer and sighed, closing his eyes.

"I'll miss you…" Yami heard those words and his heart fluttered slightly. "I'll come back one day, I promise. As soon as we get Ryou to realise the truth." He added and Yami nodded his head, watching as Yugi stood up straight and went to the door to where Ryou was.

They left, although they didn't know where they were going to go or what would happen to them once they got there. Everything seemed to be against them, including the weather: cold and still. They saw people's tracks in the snow as they made their journeys and wondered where they would end up. They merely followed Ryou, not looking back to see the door closing behind them, cutting off the light of their friends.

"Thank you for the drink by the way /_Duke_/." The six of them spun around at the voice and saw Kaiba standing at the doorway of the drawing room, looking slightly annoyed to say the least.

"That's quite all right." Duke replied with a grin and just as Kaiba looked like he was going to kill him, he looked at the clock, hearing the bell sound. "Oh would you look at how late it is…I think it's time I went on now."

"Hmm, Christmas tomorrow. Well early Merry Christmas to everyone then." Kaiba said, surprisingly happy at his words but then he frowned, looking around. "Where are the others? Surely they are not asleep already are they?"

Their attention was brought to Malik who had started crying, thinking of Ryou being out there at Christmas when it was so cold and dangerous. Yami went over to comfort him but he stood up suddenly, running up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door shut.

"What did I say?" Kaiba asked but no one replied.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harry wandered the streets of London, letter in hand, trying to find the person he had been paid to give the envelope to. He thought back to the conversation he and Master Yami had had, where he had been handed this letter and told to give it to a boy called Yugi. He didn't ask how they were related; it wasn't his job to pry into others' business. He had been a friend of Yami's grandfather while he was alive and used to take Master Yami around London when he was little, able to blend in better than the aristocrats were. This skill was well used, with some of the upper class asking him to send things where it would have looked suspicious if they had gone instead.

The main problem was that Master Yami had no idea where Yugi and the others were, merely assuming they were still in London. So although Harry was having to do a lot of searching, at least he was being paid well for it. Which was important, especially as he was getting too old for most work now. It was just lucky he knew London and its inhabitants as well as he did. Which meant it wouldn't be too hard to find someone who had seen a midget, albino and contortionist together.

"Hello Harry…" Hmm, the slimy voice instantly brought images of greasy black hair, a long black, dirty coat and a hooked nose. It could only be Silas.

"Hello Silas." He said with resignation, that man was always causing trouble wherever he went; it was like he had a curse or something. But he was useful for finding out information about what was going on so he might know where this Yugi was.

"I've heard a few things recently…" He started and Harry sighed, passing over a coin, which he took greedily. This was how it went; he would talk but only for a price. "There seems to be a ruffle going on amongst the brothels." Harry wasn't quite sure how this was related to his search but he gave some more money anyway. "Yes, there's rumours going around that men are looking for new flesh, young male flesh…that is."

"And?" Harry still wasn't making the connections and so gave yet another coin, hoping that Master Yami was going to pay him /_extremely_/ well. He couldn't afford to keep doing this.

"Well there's one that looks a lot like your master…" He hinted and Harry's eyes widened, finally realising what he was trying to say. "And a pale one too… I can understand of course, they're such pretty little things." Harry growled and grabbed Silas by the collar, bringing him up to eye level.

"Where are they?" He snarled, tightening his grip when it looked like he was going to ask for more money. "And no lies."

"All right!" He yelled and was instantly dropped. He brushed himself down before leering up at Harry. "They're not too far from here actually, up Haymarket (**2**)."

"What the hell are they doing there?"

"I don't know, that's just where they were last seen. They might have moved by now of course, that was a couple of days ago." It was obvious Silas wasn't going to say anything else so Harry left him to whatever, no doubt /_illegal/ _activity he had been engaging in.

Being in the Haymarket was bad; no wonder they had been noticed by brothel owners. But the thing about men wanting 'male flesh', as Silas had so poetically put it, seemed unusual to Harry. There weren't many male prostitutes, at least not in this part of London; there just wasn't any demand for them. Which must mean that something big was happening (**3**)… But he could contemplate on this matter later. The most important thing was to now get to Haymarket and ask around the residents for the location of Yugi and hope he wasn't too late.

xxxxxx

"Yes, I know who you're talking about. Short little freaky squirt with those queer friends of his; usually hang around Windmill Street (**4**). I've heard the rumours about them and I'm not really surprised they've come about if they insist on hanging around /_there_/." Harry was talking to Susie, one of the local girls and he had apparently hit the jackpot. Now he had a street name, not a nice one but it was the best he could have hoped for.

Thanking her with a few coins, he moved onto Windmill Street and almost straight away spotted the three of them sitting together down an alleyway. By now it was late afternoon and Harry's feet ached, only serving to remind him that he wasn't getting any younger. Standing quite near them, he managed to catch Yugi's eye and wondered at the similarity to Master Yami.

#_Maybe they're brothers? But Master Yami has no brothers; I've known his family long enough to know that._# His thoughts were interrupted by a small voice.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" Damn, no wonder there was so much interest in him, he was so naïve! But there was something familiar about him, like he had heard that voice before. He couldn't wonder about it now though, he had to get them to move on.

"I was asked to deliver this to you by someone you know." He handed over the letter and Yugi took it, staring at the blank front.

"Who is it from?"

"Read it and find out." Harry wasn't sure if Yami wanted his name mentioned so didn't mention him, just in case. "Another tip, I'm not sure what's written inside but I can tell you that you should move out of here, maybe even out of London."

"Out of London? Why?" Yugi asked, shock evident in his voice. Where would they go if they had to move?

"Because you're getting a lot of what I would call 'unwanted' attention. If you want to see my master again or stay with each other you will heed my advice." Yugi seemed to look out onto the street where heavily made up women walked up and down, occasionally accosted by smartly dressed men. "Yes, I'm talking about that." Harry added, guessing that was what Yugi was looking at.

"Thank you for telling me-" He stopped suddenly and blushed. "I'm sorry sir; I didn't hear what your name was. Or your master's name."

"My name is Harry, my master's name is not important." Yugi looked slightly disappointed when he heard this and Harry smiled comfortingly. "But maybe the letter is about meeting up with them."

"Yes, maybe…" Yugi took something out of his pocket and stared it at for a moment before replacing it. "Thank you for giving this to me."

"That is quite all right Master Yugi but now I must go before the night falls." Harry wrapped his coat tighter around himself and Yugi nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes, we should be going too. Goodbye, maybe we'll see each other again." Yugi said cheerfully, watching as Harry disappeared back out of the alleyway, dodging the passers-by on the street.

"Yugi, what was that about?" Tristan asked when he turned back to them.

"He gave me a letter and told me to read it, said it was important." Yugi bit his lip, remembering the other thing Harry had said. "And apparently there's some people who've noticed us…bad people…" He whispered and the others could only imagine what this meant.

"So what does the letter say?" Ryou said and Yugi looked at it once more, hoping, wishing that it was from whom he thought it was from. Well, there was only one way to find out… He ripped it open and his eyes scanned along the lines so fast that he had to reread it to understand what it said.

_Dear Yugi,_

_I hope this finds you in safe hands and that Tristan and Ryou are good too. I am sorry if you did not want to hear from me again but I thought that you should know we will all be moving to our country estates soon as the London season is now over. _

_If you did wish to come and find me again, it would be best if you went to Lord Kaiba as he is the nearest to London. He is located in Bedfordshire, around 40 miles from London._

_I must go now, I seriously doubt this letter was wanted in the first place but I had to. I hope you can understand._

_Yami._

"And that's it…" Yugi ended once he had read the letter out to them. For some strange reason, reading the last paragraph hurt Yugi a lot. #_Why does Yami think I don't want to hear from him?_# He hadn't read that bit out to them, somehow he didn't think they would understand.

"Well maybe if they're moving to the country and we aren't safe here then we should go to them." Tristan suggested and Yugi nodded his head in agreement, desperate to see Yami. Ryou however didn't say anything and Tristan turned to him. "Ryou?"

"I-err…" He looked up at their faces and saw the pain in Yugi's eyes. He knew that deep in his heart, Yugi had never wanted to leave, only doing so because of him. #_I've been so selfish, they don't need to be here with me… I'll go with them to Lord Kaiba's mansion and then move on somewhere else…_#

"It sounds like a good idea to me…" Yugi said quietly, hoping to get a reaction out of Ryou. He hated seeing him look so sad and thoughtful all the time.

"Yes, let's go and find the mansion. It'll be safer if we keep moving than if we stay here at least." Ryou said and this seemed to set them on their journey.

As they left the alleyway, they felt eyes on them and quickened their pace, afraid that someone might catch up to them. Yugi held the letter tightly in his hand, the thought running through his mind that Yami had held this, it had a trace of his spirit on it and he tried to envelop it, to make it a part of himself. He continued to follow Tristan, wondering what was going on with not just Yami but the others too. Especially Joey and Marik…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Joey and Marik held each other as they waited for Lord Kaiba to come. It had happened nearly every night, he would come and try and split them up, take Joey away to do horrible things to him and had only been stopped so far by the fact that Marik refused to let go. But somehow they knew tonight would be different, that they could no longer put it off. And that scared them…

"Marik, I don't want to go…" Joey whispered, burying his face in Marik's chest while he gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"I never let you go willingly, he never have your soul…" Marik replied and Joey looked up to smile at him…until they heard the door slam open.

"Where are you mongrel?" Joey cowered away from the person that voice belonged to, the voice that haunted him in his sleep, taunting and cursing. But he caved in, it was his nature…after all, he was just a dog.

"Yes master?" Joey breathed, sitting up on the bed, head bowed in respect as usual. The perfect image of a cowering slave…

"Get here now and you-" He stopped and pointed at Marik. "Do not even think of getting in the way. I have had it up to here with your pathetic attempts to protect the animal!" He shouted and Marik glared in response, putting his arms around Joey.

"I won't let you near him; you want do bad things to him!" Marik kept a tight hold on the paralysed Joey while Kaiba stepped forward quickly, grabbing Joey's arm and pulling him away from Marik.

"And what authority do /_you_/ have to say something like that to me?" Kaiba said smugly before dragging Joey out of the room.

"BAKURA!" Marik screamed, running after them. "BAKURA!"

"What the hell is happening here, it sounds like there's a war going on!" Bakura commented blearily as he stepped out of his room, unable to ignore the wail-like cry of Marik. Then he saw the people standing in front of him. "Change of subject, what the hell are /_you_/ doing Kaiba?"

"Do not even think about trying to do anything Bakura…" They stared at each other in silence before Bakura bowed his head slightly. You didn't want to get on the bad side of Kaiba; he had a nasty habit of not going away once you had wronged him.

Marik saw the look of defeat on Bakura's face and shook his head madly from side to side, unable to believe that he wasn't going to do anything about it. He had protected them before but now… Bakura took the shaking Marik into his arms, trying to console him, rocking him back and forth gently so that he wouldn't notice that Kaiba had gone. Not that he would have been able to do anything anyway…

"Shush Marik…" He looked down at the tear-streaked face that still managed to have the air of defiance about it.

"Why didn't you do anything? Why you just let him go?" He demanded quietly and Bakura sighed, knowing that Marik wasn't going to understand. This could take a while…

xxxxxx

Joey was practically thrown into the room and immediately turned around in order to see where Kaiba was and what he was going to do. He couldn't afford to take his eye off him…

"Now then /_dog_, you are going to do as I say or I promise I will make your life even more miserable than it already is…" Kaiba hissed, taking a step forward.

"How? I don't think it can get much worse!" Joey snapped before realising the position he was in and that talking back at the master probably wasn't a good thing.

"Well at the moment you have Marik. But you know, that can change quite easily…" Joey gasped, backing away from the obviously insane man in front of him. "That is it, keep going…"

Wondering what he was talking about, Joey risked a quick glance behind him, only to stop suddenly when he saw the bed. Surely he didn't mean he wanted him to…get on it? That only ever ended in one thing and Joey didn't want that to happen to him.

"You know, you are just delaying the inevitable…" Kaiba whispered, taking a few steps so that he was lot more closer than Joey would have liked.

"No, I would have to say that I'm quite happy here." Joey said bravely, trying to keep the stutter out of his voice. He didn't really want the master to find out how frightened he was.

"Well, I am not happy here. In fact, I think /_here_/ would be a lot better." He suddenly swept Joey up in his arms and quickly placed him on the bed, sitting back slightly, enjoying this game of breaking the thing.

"Now, I wasn't quite expecting it would go like this…" He tried to make a joke out of it and when Kaiba started laughing, so did he.

"Oh you are so funny little puppy but that is not going to save you."

Joey gulped as Kaiba swooped forward, pushing him into the bed with his weight and grabbing his arms, pinned them above him and fiddled with something for a moment before Joey heard two clicks. Nothing else happened and so Joey opened his eyes, wiggling his hands slightly at the same time. He felt something slide against the wood of the bed and a horrible thought suddenly struck him. Something that involved handcuffs…

"You really suit being chained up you know. So much more easier to get at…" And with that, he lowered his face towards Joey's body while he lay there, waiting for it to end…

He gasped when he felt a hand snaking upwards to his shoulders, pausing to stroke his neck before ripping the flimsy shirt covering his chest. He could feel the hairs rising on his body and looked away, he hated seeing himself, it was a reminder of what he was in Kaiba's eyes…

"So it is not just on your face then…" He allowed a moment to feel the softness of the hair that ran down his neck, chest and stomach, stopping when he reached his navel. "Shall we see if it goes down here too?"

"No, don't…" Joey cried out, trying to wind away from his touch, failing because of the weight on his legs.

"Are you sure? I would really like to know what is down there…" And with that Kaiba roughly pulled down Joey's trousers, smirking when he saw that hair did indeed go further down. He glanced up at Joey, his smile increasing when he saw the look of discomfort on Joey's face. "Do not worry; I will be seeing this many more times. Anyway, I am bored of being nice now so just close your eyes, it will soon be over."

Kaiba quickly undressed, not noticing the shivering figure underneath him before finally allowing himself to kiss his prized possession. The contrast of his smooth lips and fuzzy face tingled Kaiba's senses for the first time in his life and he yearned to feel it again, to feel more than just their lips together. He pressed his body against his once more before grabbing the mongrel's hips and finally conquering what was his.

The friction, the heat, the hot blood running down himself was what Kaiba got as a welcome and he paused once he was fully inside to gauge the situation. He hadn't imagined it like this, he had always thought that once he started he wouldn't be able to stop himself but that was simply not the case. In fact he wanted to turn to the animal and see what was happening with him. Hmm, something was definitely wrong in his head…

His thoughts were broken when he noticed warmth on its face and the smell of sharp, tangy salt. He saw the screwed up concentration and the wet tracks and leaned on his elbows, looking down at the face that refused to return his gaze.

"Am I hurting you?"

Joey's eyes opened suddenly, panicked when he heard the question. He was trying so hard to avoid the current agony he was in but it obviously wasn't good enough. He had to say something or the master would be mad at him…

"No…" He replied, making an effort to look into the master's eyes.

"You are lying." Joey thought for a moment, trying to think of how to persuade him but nothing came.

"It's just the handcuffs rubbing my wrists." He eventually said and Kaiba leant even closer.

"You are lying again and I do not like that."

"I'm not…" Joey moaned, trying to turn away from him. "Please! Just don't hurt me!" He looked up at his face but he merely continued to stare at him. "PLEASE!"

Kaiba was taken aback by the sudden vigour in Joey as he kicked and yelled, trying to get away from him. Kaiba quickly lifted himself away from Joey's legs and undid the handcuffs, helping him to sit up afterwards. After realising he was free, Joey did the first thing that came into his head: get as far away from the master as possible.

Kaiba watched him leap off the bed with a tinge of sadness, increasing as he saw Joey rattle the door handle and realising it was locked, run into the corner where he hid, rocking back and forth. He grabbed a blanket lying at the end of the bed and holding it out in front of him, he crept towards Joey so he wouldn't scare him.

"No master, please don't hurt me!" Joey wailed, looking up and noticing him knelt beside him.

"I do not want to hurt you; I just want to stop you from getting cold." Kaiba explained, offering the blanket to prove his words. Joey took it hesitantly and wrapped it around himself, smiling slightly afterwards.

"Thank you master."

"Joey, I want you to stop calling me that. Just call me Seto." He was putting a lot of trust in Joey; no one ever said his first name in front of him without facing dire consequences. But Joey was closer to him than anyone else, which was odd because he never noticed it before.

"Yes Master Seto."

"No, you just say Seto. Do not say master." Kaiba reiterated, wondering if Joey would understand.

"But…you're master. I can't call you something else master."

"Stop saying that! Why can you not get it through your thick skull?" He snarled, only for Joey to yelp before stumbling backwards along the wall again. #_Well done Seto, you have done it now…_# He silently berated himself, knowing Joey wouldn't go near him again.

"I'm sorry, I try so hard master-" He clapped his hand over his mouth, knowing he had said the bad word again. He stared at Kaiba for a moment before bursting into tears. "Please, don't get me on the bed again…"

"I will not Joey; I just need you to calm down for a minute."

"Yes…Seto." He said slowly, nodding his head as he wiped the tears away with a hand.

"See, you can do it." Kaiba said, praising Joey and he gave a lop-sided smile. "Now, I am going to open the door so you can go back to your room. Is that good for you Joey? We will talk whenever you want to. I promise I will not do anything else."

When Joey nodded his head, Kaiba stood up, pausing for a moment to stretch his legs before unlocking the door and opening it. He then stepped away from Joey's path, allowing him to practically run out of the room before closing the door and collapsing on his bed.

The Lord stared at the ceiling blankly, trying to collect his thoughts on what had just happened and what he was going to do now. Would Joey ever trust him again? Did it matter? His mind should have been saying no but it wasn't, in fact it seemed to be the most important thing of all, that Joey liked and trusted him. He didn't understand though, why did he suddenly start feeling like this about some worthless old dog?

He was surprised when he heard a soft knock on the door and after making some noise of acknowledgement, it opened and Kaiba saw Joey standing there, looking a little nervous. He stepped into the room, shrouded in darkness when he closed the door and he went over to the bed, stopping a few feet away in respect.

"Joey…?" Kaiba prompted after he had stood there for several minutes without saying anything.

"Can I stay here tonight?" He suddenly asked, withdrawing more into himself as he said so he'd be protected against the abuse he was sure to get.

"Yes…of course you can but…" Kaiba hadn't expected him to be willing to talk to him after being so afraid a moment ago. Something big must have happened. "Can I ask why? What about Marik?"

"He's asleep…and I didn't want to disturb him…and…Bakura…" Joey whispered, his voice so soft Kaiba wondered if it was going to break. Then what he said suddenly clicked.

#_Huh, I /knew/ Bakura had a soft spot for him._# He smirked at this news but quickly removed it, seeing Joey's large eyes staring at him, like a frozen animal. "I just wondered. Come on then, you must be tired…" But still Joey didn't move, he just continued to gaze at him. Kaiba was just about to get annoyed when he paused to think. #_There must be something about me…_# He looked down at himself, blushing just slightly when he saw he was still naked. Obviously Joey thought he was going to try something.

#_Somehow, him blushing makes this situation seem slightly better._# This thought cheered Joey up, although not enough to get any closer. Not until he put something on…

Kaiba quickly put on his earlier abandoned clothes and then turned to Joey again, to make sure he had this approval when he noticed that he still only had the blanket, although he didn't look too cold…

"Do you want to put your things on too?" He said gently and Joey smiled slowly, shaking his head as though he was just about to fall sleep.

"No, sleep would be just fine…" He murmured in reply before finally getting into the bed, snuggling into the pillows before closing his eyes.

Kaiba pondered on the innocence of him and how he could achieve it so easily, despite what had happened to him when he suddenly realised how tired he was too. So he followed Joey's example and got into bed too, smiling when he felt the warm body lying beside him, although he was careful not to get too close to him. But that didn't matter as he felt Joey move towards him anyway, eventually lying near enough to be able to leach some heat off Kaiba before settling down once more and going to sleep.

xxxxxx

"Come on Marik..." Bakura had decided to leave the explanation for now; Marik was obviously not in the mood to listen.

So instead, Bakura led him back to his room, pulling back the covers and helping him in to bed. Marik's sobbing had decreased and now his eyes were red from all the crying he had done. After wiping the tears away, Bakura stood up to leave but Marik grabbed his hand, forcing him back down.

"No, don't go! I no want be here on my own!" A fresh set of tears started to fall down his face and Bakura shifted closer, trying to comfort him.

"Shush Marik; I will not go if you do not want me to." Bakura whispered, squeezing his hand in reassurance. Marik remained silent for a while and Bakura thought he was finally falling asleep when he suddenly sat up, startling him.

"Bakura, I hear what's happening and I no want to. He do nasty things to Joey..." He clapped his hands over his ears as though he was trying to hide from the noises. "Please say something."

"What would you like me to say?"

"Anything! Just...something."

"Well, now is as good a time as any to tell you some things I probably should have mentioned before." Marik heard the tone in Bakura's voice and frowned, not understanding. "I mean, do you know why you are here?" That was an odd question; of course Marik knew why he was here.

"Because you bought me from master."

"No, that is how you got here. I mean why?"

"Because...I don't know. But that no matter as long as /_you_/ know why." Marik smiled, trying to make an increasingly depressed looking Bakura to smile or laugh.

"If you had the chance to go back, back to before Fettuccini, would you take it?" Bakura suddenly asked and Marik's face screwed up as he saw flashes of running and puffs of warm air floating in front of his face. He wasn't sure whether remembering all of this was a good thing or not but now it was at the front of his mind.

"There was snow you know…" He said softly, scooping up air in front of him as though to show this. "It was so pretty and perfect. Now, there no snow." He glanced around the room and sighed, seeing how humid everything was compared to where he had been before. But then his eyes rested on Bakura, his wary expression and he wondered: snow or Bakura? "Snow goes…" He said aloud, gasping quietly when he realised he had said it aloud.

"Yes, it does." Bakura's eyes fell onto the sheets and he shifted closer. "Things change Marik, like…why you are here."

"What?"

"Erm…well the reason Fettuccini took you was because I asked him to find someone like you." Marik sat still for a moment, taking this in. He was here because of what he was, not /_who_/ he was. This new revelation surprised Marik and he rested his head on his hand, refusing to look at Bakura.

"Oh." He couldn't muster the energy to say anything else, and Bakura hurried on with his explanation.

"But as I said, things change. I know you think-"

"But you don't…" Marik whispered, feeling smaller by the second. "My thoughts are secret. You know…nothing…"

"I am sorry if that is how you feel. I know…" He paused and thought about what he was going to say. "I have just said something that is bad but I had to tell you the truth, or what was the truth. It probably will not change things but I…really like you."

Marik looked up at this, gazing at the slight blush on Bakura's cheeks. His last words filled his mind, making him question once more how he felt about Bakura. He was angry with him, he had felt betrayed, he had lost his trust in him. But now…everything had suddenly lurched again in the opposite direction to his previous feelings. He still felt a small amount of confusion though, what had he exactly meant?

"Like…Malik likes Ryou?" Marik questioned, joining Bakura in his blushing.

"I-"

Marik crawled forward and wrapping his arm around Bakura's neck, pulled him down to kiss him, his lips like butterflies against Bakura's skin. He felt the wings and captured them, feeling their shape and texture, the coolness they produced as they fluttered. He held them for a moment before letting go; watching them drift away as he finally looked once again at the owner of this delicate creature. The moment of peace he felt was broken by the sudden, unexpected question.

"Well how about now?" Marik said in all sincerity and Bakura smiled to himself before taking his hand.

"I love you Marik." He stated, pulling him into a tight embrace. Marik snuggled into the warmth, dragging Bakura down onto the bed so they were staring at each other, side by side.

"Good…" Marik said before briefly kissing Bakura on the lips and pulling the covers over them. "Love you too."

xxxxxx

Joey woke up the next morning and frowned, feeling something holding onto him. He quickly realised Kaiba's arm had slid across him, pulling him closer than before, tickling him slightly every time he moved. Joey put his hand across his mouth to stop himself from laughing as he continued to study the person lying next to him.

Kaiba's frame overall was relaxed, holding none of the usual stiffness that Joey had seen every day as he had watched him, afraid of what he might do if he made the wrong move. It had all culminated last night when he had… Joey squeezed his eyes shut; knowing that the tears were going to fall if opened them again.

#_Why am I here? Lying here like this? I should hate him but my mind keeps saying that he's good, that he didn't want to hurt me. But he did, otherwise he would never have…_# He heard rustling nearby and his eyes snapped open, instantly concerned by the cause of it.

"I am sorry Joey; I should never have let you sleep here. You did not want it and I forced you, against your will." Kaiba got out of bed and went to a cupboard, opening the doors and peering into it before picking out some clothes and travelling across to the en-suite bathroom. "You can go back to Marik now; I will not say anything to you again."

Kaiba walked into the bathroom but quickly realised that because he had woken up so early, there was no hot water ready for him but he didn't feel like going down and demanding any. So instead he sank to the floor, arms around his knees, hugging himself as he thought about what he had done. He hadn't felt anything like this since he had been adopted by Clarence all those years ago, suddenly arriving in a big house, alone and not knowing what was happening. Joey had probably felt like that too when he had first come and /_he_/ had hardly helped matters, ordering around and humiliating him as much as possible merely for his own amusement.

He wondered what Joey was doing now, although he quickly realised that it shouldn't really matter to him anymore since he would never want to be near him again. He ignored the knock on the door, knowing that whoever it would eventually go away, too scared to actually go in. How had he let it get like that…?

"Kaiba, what happened?" He was surprised when he saw that it was Bakura, he had assumed his appalling actions last night would have put him off for life. But he was here anyway… "Joey is sitting on your bed and he is really upset. He will not stop crying, he is saying that you keep changing your mind but he will not tell us about what."

Kaiba just about acknowledged the fact that Bakura was now sitting next to him before sighing and burying himself back in his misery, not noticing the look of sincere concern on the Duke's face.

"Please say something. They are both getting hysterical out there; I think they are trying to out cry each other." Kaiba looked up in puzzlement. "Marik and Joey."

"Oh." He stopped, thinking about what Bakura had just said. "I thought Joey would have been happy, not having to talk to me anymore." Bakura quickly took this into account before hitting the Lord just hard enough to get his full attention.

"Look, Joey is really confused; he does not know what he is supposed to think about you anymore. He should totally hate you but that is just not in his nature and he cannot handle it. I do not know exactly what happened but you must have been slightly nice to him and now you are being so cold and it is not helping him." Bakura sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "And now Marik is crying too because Joey is sad and you are the only person who can make him happy again."

"But I do not know what to do. I said I was sorry, I told him that he did not have to talk to me again, that he could stay with Marik from now on! What else can I do?" Kaiba stood up, facing away from Bakura. "I cannot make him happy; all I have done so far is tried to make his life as miserable as possible."

"But that does not seem to matter to him, he just wants to be able to decide something but he cannot if you keep changing your attitude towards him. Just go in there and see what he says."

"What if he does not though? He could just sit there in silence…" Kaiba moaned, resting his head against the wall, banging it lightly.

The door opened and Kaiba was aware of someone sitting in front of Bakura, crying as they were embraced by him: Marik.

"Please…he won't stop." Kaiba heard Marik sniffle quietly. Suddenly Kaiba decided to go out there: somehow it was up to him to do something about this whole mess and obviously Joey wasn't going to do anything until they talked. Which meant that Marik wasn't going to stop either and that would upset Bakura, who would moan at him… It was one big vicious cycle.

"Stay in here for now please." He requested before walking towards the door and shutting them off from what was about to happen.

Kaiba stood for a moment to watch Joey sitting on the bed, head bowed, every part of him perfectly sculpted as the Sun glinting in from the window lit up his golden hair. He looked like a statue, made to be admired and he did so until he heard a quiet whimper from the figure who turned to stare at him with wide doe eyes. Seto sat on the bed beside him, legs folded underneath, and he waited for Joey to say something.

"Where's Marik? I thought you said you were going to leave me…" Joey whispered and Kaiba frowned. Why the hell was Bakura telling him to be here if this was all Joey was going to say?

"I did but Bakura said you were upset!" Kaiba breathed in deeply to regain his composure, glancing at Joey. "Just tell me what you want."

"I want-" Joey stopped, frowning slightly. "I want you to tell me the truth."

"The truth about what?"

"Everything. Everything to do with you and how you feel. Do I repulse you that much?" Kaiba was stunned at the last question, where did Joey get that idea from? And why did his feelings suddenly matter?

"Joey, you do not repulse me. I do not know why you think that, but you do not. My actions have been…" Kaiba winced slightly as he thought about what he had done to him. "Well, they have been pretty appalling and I do not really have an excuse for them. Even if I did, you probably would not want to hear it anyway. Things have been odd since last night, I realised then that I have been missing the whole point really. It is hard to describe what I mean…"

"Tell me what your excuse is. There must a reason…is there?" Joey said, looking so innocent with the sheet just covering him as his hands rested in his lap.

"I only know that I have always been like this. There is not really anyone in my life to whom I am close to and when I saw you, I just saw you as something to control. It is not really an excuse though…" Joey seemed to frown in agreement with his last statement.

"So how do you feel about me now?" Joey took one of Kaiba's hands and placed it on his chest, near his heart, watching him carefully to see his reaction. He kept still, feeling the warmth which Joey radiated through the hair. He knew Joey was waiting for him to show some sign of repulsion but to be honest, he found Joey the most fascinating person he had ever met. A person, not just an object.

"I just want you to give me a second chance. So that I can prove how much you mean to me." He hesitantly removed his hand from Joey's chest but he didn't seem to notice, wondering whether he should fight against what he knew to be a genuine attempt at being nice.

"More than your pride?"

This question caused Kaiba to seriously pause and consider how he could answer without appearing to be sarcastic or inflaming Joey's obvious vulnerability which caused him to be oversensitive to everything said. In the end, he came to the conclusion that it was impossible to please Joey so he did his best.

"I am sorry Joey; I don't know how to answer that. But I know that sometimes I make mistakes, as is obvious here." He stood up and started to pace in front of him. "I was meant to control you, to bend you to my will but I realised that it is impossible to do that to someone who has managed to change your thinking so dramatically that he does not know what to believe anymore. To be that person Joey, you have to mean a lot; I cannot believe that you are less important than my pride when you were the one who broke it." He stopped at this and sagged onto the bed again; facing away from Joey so that he wouldn't see that sight that he had let no human ever see: the shining tears ready to fall and stain his prefect, cold mask. "My words mean little though. There is no comparison between them and you…"

He stiffened slightly when he felt warm arms envelop him from behind, keeping his head bowed when Joey slid himself closer so that he was sitting to the side of Kaiba, peering underneath his fringe to see what he was trying to hide. When he saw the silvery track sliding down, forming cracks in the marble of his face, he lifted his face slightly with his hand so he could look at him properly.

"Thank you, Seto…" Joey whispered before pressing his lips to Seto's, desperate to warm up the stone coldness of his mouth and break the spell that had been cast upon him. Just the way Joey said his name was shattering to his senses…

Seto pulled away; confused about what was happening to him, how Joey could want to be near him now he was showing how vulnerable he was. Everyone else in his life had told him that weakness was bad but for some reason, Joey was bathing in it, exposing it more than Seto could even consider possible without facing some form of retribution. Joey stared at him, able to work out what was going through him as he kissed him again.

"Seto, showing emotion isn't weak. Please don't hide from me…" He saw the hope in Joey's eyes and the wall finally crumbled away, leaving Seto free to show his emotions.

He savoured the taste on Joey's lips, the warmth of their bodies so close together and he thought the moment would last forever until he heard a quiet cough from the corner of the room. Looking up sharply, he saw Bakura and Marik standing there together, giving each other knowing looks as they walked through the room.

"Just thought we should leave before things get too heated round here…" Bakura said cryptically, shaking his head slightly as they neared the door.

"/_Please_, I am not the one who has a penchant for leather!" Kaiba retorted, ready to face Bakura in whatever battle came next while Marik and Joey just rolled their eyes.

"No, you just prefer the /_natural_/ look." Bakura commented, looking pointedly at the two of them sat on the bed wearing very little.

"Right, that is it!"

And with that Kaiba leapt off the bed, running after Bakura out of the room. Joey could feel himself blushing slightly at the reference Bakura had made and quickly searched around for the night shirt which had been discarded last night, getting up to find a pair of trousers he could wear to make himself feel better. Once he was done he finally had time to appreciate the fact that Seto and Bakura were acting like children. He turned to Marik and laughed as he headed towards the door to see what would happen next.

"Does he /_really_/ like leather?" Joey said to Marik and he pouted, putting his hands on his hips.

"You trying to say I already know the answer to that?" Marik replied in mock huffiness and Joey burst out laughing, finally leaving the room and one very confused Marik, who eventually followed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You don't suppose that person gave us the wrong directions just to give himself a laugh do you?" Tristan said in his usual upbeat manner as they trekked across yet /_another_/ field. They didn't realise it was possible for there to be so much land used just for food.

The three of them had been going for a month now, zigzagging towards Bedfordshire as they followed people's directions, usually ending up in some strange little village with an odd name and just as disturbed inhabitants. And as you can imagine, a month with no proper food or a wash or any of the things they had started to get used to was starting to have an effect i.e. they were very hungry and smelled quite a bit. But they had kept themselves going by thinking about seeing their friends again. Apart from Ryou that is. He felt a sick feeling growing inside of him every day, knowing that it couldn't be too much longer before they got there and when that happened, he would have to leave them again. Because there was no way he could see Malik again, not without more time to think anyway.

"Please don't say that, I swear if the next village we see has pitchfork wielding maniacs I'm going to grab one and stick it where the Sun don't shine!" Yugi growled, causing Tristan to laugh at the mental image. After all, the thought of Yugi successfully brandishing a pitchfork seemed very unlikely.

"I'll look forward to seeing that." Tristan said cheerfully and Yugi glanced at him, wondering if there was a hidden sub-text to that. "Talking of villages, look over there!"

They followed Tristan's finger to the horizon and noticed that houses were indeed suddenly appearing. From the looks of things, it seemed to be like every other place they had stopped at and they resigned themselves to the fact they would have to do some running pretty soon. But they had to find out how far away they were and this was the only way…

"Ryou, do you want to wait outside for us?" Yugi asked him, knowing that Ryou's morale was very low and he didn't really need to hear the words said about him.

"If that's fine with you…" He replied quietly, as though he hadn't been listening to Yugi's words but he left it at that, there was no point in trying to stir Ryou out of his despair.

"Of course it is. We'll go in, ask around and meet you over there where that stone wall is. We won't take too long…" He merely nodded his head before diverting from their current path, feet dragging in the grass.

"Yugi, we're going to have to do something soon. We must be nearing the place and Ryou still hasn't talked about what happened. I mean, he's going to have to be prepared for when we arrive." Tristan said, sighing as he watched Ryou walk away.

"I get the feeling he isn't going to come with us. I think he's going to leave soon and go somewhere else." Yugi didn't want to think about this but he had realised this soon after they had left London. "But we can worry about that as soon as we've worked out where we are."

Soon they were walking on a cobbled street running through the centre of this small community of houses but not many people were around. It wasn't that early and they wondered where everyone was. But that was soon forgotten when they saw a hansom standing by an inn, the driver idly sitting atop. He was bound to know where the Kaiba estate was if he travelled around these parts regularly.

"Excuse me sir?" Yugi said politely once they had reached the front of the hansom. The man glanced down and saw them, wondering who they were and the lives they led. He met a lot of people in his line of work and he always tried to guess some things from their appearances. For instance, these two boys looked like they didn't have a permanent home, maybe they were street urchins. What would they want with him?

"Yes, young boy?"

"We were wondering if you could tell us the way to Lord Kaiba's estate please." Now this definitely was a surprise. Why would they want to know where it was? No matter, it wasn't really any of his business.

"Well, if you take this road out of the village that way, you can follow it straight to the estate. It will branch off the left after about ten miles down; you can see it from the road." He said, somehow feeling good when he saw the looks of happiness on their faces.

"Thank you sir! Thank you very much!" The other boy repeated the sentiments and they started off down the road, planning to head back to where Ryou was and tell him the good news.

As they walked away, the driver continued to ponder on the two boys and what they were doing. Very few people went to Kaiba's mansion, least of all working class. He tried to think of a reason they might want to go and remembered the rumours of Lord Kaiba visiting a circus freak show and buying one of the exhibits. Could they possibly be friends? They didn't look like freaks though; admittedly the boy who had talked was a bit on the short side but apart from that…

Making his mind up, he lifted the reins and started to move slowly, hoping he would find them and offer them a ride there. It wasn't like he was going to be very busy at this time of day. And they looked like they could do with it; there was no way they were going to make another ten miles. Luckily he found them walking down the side of a house and he stopped the hansom.

"Excuse me you two!" They heard him and turned around, walking back a few steps to hear him better. "If you're going that way then I will take you there!"

"Are you going to his mansion too?" The little one asked and the adult smiled at the innocence of him.

"No but you look like you could do with some help." He explained and yet again, grins were splashed across their faces.

"Are you sure sir?" He nodded his head. "That would be so great!"

"I'll go and get Ryou." Tristan said quickly, turning around and running back to where the stone wall was.

Soon the three of them were standing by the hansom and the driver hopped down to open the door for them. After all, all customers should be treated with respect. His thoughts about them being related to the exhibit had been confirmed when he saw Ryou but apart from this had no real opinion of them. But it seemed they were having an argument…

"Yugi, I don't want to go. I can't, not yet at least. Please, you have to understand…" The albino, Ryou he thought his name was, said.

"Look, I know you might be scared but he was telling the truth you know. And you can't run away forever, eventually you'll have to face him!" Yugi said, knowing he had to do everything possible in order to get him to come.

"But how do you know he was telling the truth? I'm still not sure." Ryou shook his head. "And anyway, that's not the point! You never had to be here and I know you miss Yami and I'm not going to get in the way of that."

"Ryou, we came with you because we're your friends and we're not going to leave you now. We would never leave you out here on your own, you know that." Tristan argued, stepping closer to him.

"I know and that is why this is so hard. But you have to go back to the mansion and I have to stay here until I figure out what to do." Ryou's voice started to break, he didn't realise leaving his friends would have such an effect on him.

"But we might never hear from you again! And what about Marik and Joey? They'll be heartbroken when they hear that you've gone."

"I've still got to do it though." Ryou said, turning away from them. "I'll come back…one day. When I know the truth for sure."

"Ryou, you should have realised the truth by now! He loves you!" Yugi yelled at Ryou's retreating figure but got no response, he had shut himself off once again, just like he had done back in London…

"Come on Yugi, there's nothing we can do now…" Tristan said, tugging Yugi's arm to get him to move.

"But Tristan, we can't leave him!" Yugi snapped, trying to pull himself away.

"Yes but he isn't going to listen and us hanging around him isn't going to help either! He won't move too far from here, he still doesn't know exactly what he's doing. Come on, he'll come back, I know he will." Yugi sighed at Tristan's words, knowing that they were true but still feeling hurt.

"Fine, let's go." He whispered, getting into the hansom after Tristan, not allowing himself to look back at Ryou.

The driver got back onto his seat, mulling over what had just happened and vowed to keep an eye out for the boy. This whole thing really had nothing to do with him but he felt that somehow, he was going to be needed sometime soon. He shook his head and lifted the reins, the horse moving into action and they headed off towards the Kaiba estate.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'_Eventually you'll have to face him!_'

Yugi's words swam around Ryou's head and he sighed, flopping forward in defeat. Now it came down to it, he couldn't leave. He wanted to but a part of his mind told him that he was being too quick; he hadn't given anyone a chance to get close enough to help him, especially Malik. He was constantly suspicious of his intentions, that was now obvious in his mind.

But what was he supposed to do about it now? He couldn't just turn up on the doorstep and expect to be welcomed with open arms, Yugi had made it pretty obvious how disappointed everyone was going to be when they realised he wasn't coming back. Maybe they thought he wasn't coming back and had just forgotten about him. He hoped that wasn't the case, he didn't want that to happen to him.

'_Will you be gone forever?_'

He must have hurt Malik so much with his actions, why the hell did he have to lash out at everyone all of the time? Malik didn't want him to be gone forever and it must have taken some time to build up the courage to tell him how he really felt…

'_And you're needed too/he'll/ need you rest of his life._'

How blind must he have been for everyone else to notice Malik's feelings apart from him? He had been too busy trying to keep his independence, pushing him away constantly and still he came back because he had cared. And now…

He had to go back. To put Malik's mind at rest if no one else's.

Ryou stood up and left the shade of an abandoned barn he had been sheltering in, pausing slightly when he saw the light outside and how brightly everything was lit. But he pushed on, now was not the time to be selfish and put his needs before everyone else's. And anyway, he had been coping with the Sun not too badly recently.

xxxxxx

"Malik…I can't do it anymore…I can't…go…any further…" He breathed before collapsing at the side of the road, feeling completely weightless. He tried to lift his head up, to find shelter but his body couldn't cope with anything else and shut itself down, Ryou leaving the world…

xxxxxx

A man sat atop his hansom, travelling along the road and he paused in his scanning of the land to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief. The Sun was shining brightly and there was no wind to bring relief to any poor soul who happened to be outside on this day. Like him. He sighed and continued to stare forward, sighing in relief as he saw the village in the distance with shade. Maybe he could go into the inn and get a drink.

He was jerked back into reality though when he felt his horse Mabel rear up suddenly and he quickly looked around to see what could have possibly caused this disturbance. When he couldn't make out anything obvious, he leant forward to pat her neck.

"Whoa Mabel, what's wrong?" He was answered by the horse pawing at the ground, lowering her head to sniff at something lying in the ditch.

He jumped down from the hansom and knelt down to have a closer look, nudging Mabel aside to see properly. When he finally realised what, or rather who, it was, he gasped and shook his shoulder slightly, trying to get some sort of reaction out of him. When he didn't respond, he did the only thing he could think of doing: picked him up and placed him comfortably in the carriage before setting off as fast as he could for the Kaiba estate.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Malik stared out of the window despondently, wondering if there was any point in him even being up today. After all, he hadn't done so for the last couple of days. But the others, well Kaiba mainly, had dragged him out this morning and told him that he was going to join them today for a trip around some of Kaiba's lands. He had excused himself though, not feeling in the mood. They relented, appreciating the fact that at least he had got up and had been gone for a few hours now. He wasn't sure of exactly what they were doing but since Yugi and Tristan had arrived, he and the other Lords had been here too.

He watched a hansom drawing into the main entrance and wondered who it could be. After all, few people came in and the next gathering wasn't for another two days. There weren't supposed to be any deliveries either…

The driver practically leapt down from his seat and ran towards the entrance. Malik wondered why people always rushed around unnecessarily, he couldn't think of anything that would make him want to run like that. Apart from one… But there was no point in thinking about him now; it was an accepted fact that he wouldn't be coming back…

Malik looked out of the window again to take his mind off him and was surprised to see that a butler had now come out and they were standing by the hansom door, looking in and avidly discussing something at the same time. By now Malik's interest had definitely been caught and he saw the driver get in and pull something out while the butler ran ahead into the mansion, he could hear him yelling but he wasn't paying attention to the words. No, he was more concerned about what the driver had.

Ryou. Lying in his arms like Malik had done when he had first taken him in. His angel, so cold and still…

He ran for his life then, shooting past the butler, not caring to hear what he said, he only wanted to see Ryou again, to hold him… But something suddenly obstructed him. The driver, and more importantly Ryou were there in front of him, so near, yet he couldn't move. He watched, as though through another's eyes as the butler stood beside him, telling him something before taking Ryou from the man's arms and going back up the stairs. Malik watched the body spin around and the eyes swivel upwards to the butler's retreating back and they continued to watch, unmoving. Malik wondered why they weren't doing anything when it suddenly occurred that it was him who controlled this body. That he was talking about himself.

He stalked the butler up the stairs and found him in his bedroom, laying Ryou on his bed before stepping back and turning to him.

"Master Malik, do you want him here?" He realised from the urgent tone in his voice that he had been trying to talk to him for some time but had got no response and was starting to get worried.

"Yes, keep him here please." Malik's voice came out at barely more than a whisper as he came over and sank down onto the bed next to Ryou, staring down at him.

"Then I will leave you for the moment and tell the others that he has come back." He replied before leaving the room, a twinkle in his eye and a slight smile on his face.

Malik felt his forehead, checking to see if he was hot but suddenly pulled back, afraid of what would happen if Ryou woke up. So instead he closed the curtains before lifting and pulling the covers over Ryou, fluffing up the pillows so that he would be more comfortable. But after that, he couldn't think of anything else to keep him busy so he finally focused on Ryou's body and what had happened to him.

He looked small and grey, like he had aged suddenly and he was so thin too. Everything was dull, even his eyes probably were, although he couldn't see them. And he had done this: he had driven Ryou away with his feelings. All Ryou had wanted was a home but Malik had tried to take it further, to make their relationship into something that wasn't possible. And now Ryou had paid the price… He shook his head suddenly. There was no point in thinking like that; the most important thing now was to get Ryou better. Then he could worry about his feelings…

He felt something pull his arm and looking down, saw that Ryou was awake. And he was so glad that his eyes were still as alive as they had been before. Ryou pulled his arm again, hard enough so that Malik was forced downwards until he was leaning on his elbows, a lot closer to Ryou than was probably good for himself. He attempted to sit up until he realised that Ryou was trying to say something. So he stayed where he was, listening.

"I tried…to go after them…to get to you. I didn't want to be selfish but…I couldn't do it…" His voice was so small, like himself, and it was obvious it was taking a huge amount of effort for him to do this. There wasn't any point in stopping him though, he was too stubborn.

"Ryou…?" He couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say when he realised how close they were. He could feel Ryou's breath, short and sharp compared to his own, tickling him.

"Malik, do you love me?" This sudden question caused Malik to hesitate slightly, remembering what had happened last time he had told him his feelings. He nodded slightly, not sure of what else to do and so Ryou's next words caused even more surprise. "Tell me then."

"God, I love you so much..." Malik whispered fervently, before lying down on the bed properly and kissing Ryou on the lips.

Ryou responded shyly, not sure of what to do and so Malik decided to take control of the situation, moving slightly so he was more comfortable before kissing Ryou again, only this time he was able to get inside his mouth. He shivered at the noises Ryou was making, touching his tongue with his own as he deepened the kiss. He could feel Ryou's arms around his neck as he tried to get closer, arching his back as he moaned in pleasure. Their bodies were pressed closer together, as were their lips but suddenly Ryou pulled away, gasping for breath as he shut his eyes.

Malik realised that he was tired and sat up again, watching as Ryou put his fingers to his lips, smiling at the tingling sensation he felt. Malik laughed quietly and grinned at the happy look on Ryou's face. He murmured something incomprehensible before opening his eyes, blushing slightly as he realised Malik was staring at him. Malik smiled in reassurance as he brushed Ryou's hair away from his rather shiny face, grinning when he saw Ryou yawn, his face going even redder as he covered his mouth.

"Come on, sleep now. I'll be here to watch over you." Malik said, standing up to tuck Ryou in but was stopped when Ryou pulled back the cover and patted the spot beside him.

"Stay with me please…" He said and Malik nodded his head, taking off his jacket before getting in, surprised by the tight hug Ryou was giving him. "I need to feel something real."

Malik was just about to question what he meant by that when he realised that Ryou had already drifted off into sleep, resting against him. Malik put an arm around him, keeping them close together before closing his eyes too. He was never going to let go…

xxxxxx

"There had better be a good reason for you interrupting us Jenkins. I distinctly remember requesting that you tell everyone I was busy." Was the greeting the butler got when he found the group sitting under the shade of a tree while Kaiba pointed out different features.

"I thought that the young masters would like to know that master Ryou has come back." He was used to his master's personality by now and didn't especially worry about the acidic tone of his voice.

"What! Ryou's come back?" Yugi said, standing up. "Where is he? Can we see him?" He looked to Yami as though asking for his permission.

"He is currently with master Malik and-"

"How is he? How is Malik feeling?" Yugi interrupted, really starting to get excited by now.

"He was a bit shocked but I think he is a lot happier now."

"Thank goodness, I was fed up of him wallowing around." Kaiba said, getting a shove in response from Joey. They hadn't told the others about their relationship yet but it was plainly obvious that they were at least getting on better now. "All right, I am happy Ryou has come back."

"Come on, let's see him!"

The four teenagers ran ahead of the others, desperate to see their friend while the nobles considered the important question of what would happen now that Ryou had come back. They all knew he hadn't arrived with Yugi and Tristan because of Malik but obviously he must have had a change of heart or he wouldn't be here.

"I hope things work out between them, seeing Malik depressed all the time is not good for the soul!" Duke said excitedly, picking up his pace a little bit.

"Yes but it is not actually allowed…" Kaiba pointed out, trying to see if he could finally get their viewpoints on the whole thing. He didn't necessarily care what they thought of him and Joey but Joey did and he said that he would be careful until he knew how they felt. Well now would the perfect time…

"It's just disapproved of! And anyway, I think they'd look like a cute couple!" Duke clapped his hands together before hugging himself and the others all sighed, hoping that this was all just a very bad dream and they weren't really facing a Duke who was acting like a little girl.

"Duke has a point. Maybe Ryou could help ground Malik a little and stop him from doing all these reckless things." Yami argued and when Duke heard that someone else was backing him up, he turned around so he was walking backwards, a huge grin on his face.

"See? If /_Yami_/ thinks it's a good idea then it must be! After all, he's sensible!"

"Unlike you." Duke frowned when he heard Kaiba's words and glanced over his shoulder, only to nearly smack into a tree. "Please walk the right way or you will damage something."

"Yes, like your head. And you know you cannot afford to kill off any more brain cells or you will not have any left." Bakura said cheerfully, causing Duke to growl and stalk towards him. "Um, maybe we should hurry up a little bit…"

Bakura screeched a second later as he started running full pelt towards the mansion, Duke following closely behind him and glancing at each other, Kaiba and Yami started running too, if only so they could get there before a major fight started between them.

They found everyone standing outside the door, peering in carefully as they discussed something but apart from this doing little else. Yami and Kaiba arrived, looking into the room themselves, pausing when they saw Malik and Ryou sleeping together. So this was what everyone else was standing out here for.

"Aw, I can't believe they got together! And they're even sweeter than I thought they could be!" Duke squealed, getting smacked on the arm by Bakura in response.

"Shush, you will wake them up with your big mouth!" He hissed and they all looked over nervously, hearing movement from the bed.

Malik opened his eyes and frowned for a moment, trying to remember what had happened. Then he saw Ryou lying next to him and it all came back to him, causing him to look over Ryou to make sure he was fine before looking for the source of what woke him up. He stared at the group standing at the door, not quite sure what to do when it suddenly occurred to him that they wanted to see Ryou.

Sitting up quickly, he went to get out of bed when he felt Ryou stirring, opening his eyes and looking up at him blearily.

"Where are you going?" Ryou asked, noticing Malik was sat up, trying to find his jacket.

"I'm just going to get some things for you and the others have come to see you. Can I leave you with them while I get a bath ready for you?" Malik said and Ryou nodded his head, smiling at the thought of finally getting clean.

"Of course. Can you help me sit up?"

Soon Ryou was propped up against the headrest, a blanket around his shoulders to keep him warm and Malik smiled at him, giving him a quick kiss before going over to the door where the others were standing, trying to restrain the teenagers from running into the room and hugging Ryou to death.

"Can we go in and see him?" Yami asked, taking control of the situation.

"Of course you can. I don't know how awake he is but stay with him as long as you like. I'm going down to get a bath sorted out for him so I'll be back up in about five minutes." They nodded their heads in understanding and so Malik set off down the stairs to find a maid.

As he reached the bottom he saw Jenkins talking to a maid and the man from earlier, the one who had brought Ryou in. He suddenly realised he hadn't said thank you yet and clearing his throat, caught the attention of the three people. Instantly they stood to attention but relaxed again when he waved his hand.

"I was just about to send a maid up to see if there was anything you wanted my Lord." Jenkins told him and he nodded his head.

"Yes, I was going to get a bath sorted out for Ryou as well as some clean clothes. He hasn't said anything about eating yet though." The maid curtsied in acknowledgement before leaving to do these things.

"And this is the driver of the hansom that found master Ryou, a Mr George Smith." Malik stepped forward and held out his hand, smiling when he saw the look of awe on the driver's face.

"Thank you so much for finding Ryou and bringing him back here, you don't know how much this means to me." Malik said sincerely, shaking the man's hand. "How did you manage to find him?"

"Well I was the one who took the two other boys here, Yugi and Tristan. They were having an argument with Ryou because he didn't want to come with them. So I thought I would try and keep an eye out for him if he stayed in the village where I mainly work. I was travelling along the main road one day when my horse suddenly stopped and started looking at something at the ground. When I saw it was Ryou, I picked him up and took him here." George explained and Malik grinned, he could have kissed the man!

"Well I'm very glad you picked him up, he means a lot to me."

"As long as things work out between you two…" George said, shrugging off the thank yous. "Is he going to be fine? I wasn't sure you see because he wouldn't wake up."

"Yes, I think he just fainted from the heat. He's quite sensitive to the Sun you see and his body probably just couldn't cope with it."

"Seeing as he's fine now, I think I'll be going." He tipped his hat and bowed slightly. "Good day my Lord." And with that he left the house, feeling like he had achieved something today. After all, it wasn't every day you saw a noble happy about being given something that wasn't material…

xxxxxx

"Ryou…?" Yugi said softly as they came into the room, doing all he could to hold himself back from squeezing Ryou to death. After all, he might not appreciate it in his state. However, when Ryou turned and smiled at him, he couldn't hold himself any longer and launched himself onto the bed, pulling Ryou close to him. "I missed you so much!"

"H-Hello Yugi!" Ryou said tightly, wincing just slightly at the pressure Yugi was putting on his ribs. "Yes, I missed you too…" He whispered, also putting his arms around Yugi.

"Yugi, you're hogging Ryou! We want to hug him too!" Joey said, pouting slightly and Yugi laughed nervously, moving away. Ryou had roughly one second to breathe freely before being crushed once again, this time by both Marik and Joey.

"A-Ah, Marik…Joey…too tight!" Ryou managed to cough out but Marik merely stared at him, frowning.

"But you've been gone a long time." He replied quietly, almost looking angry. "You weren't going to come back…" Ryou barely noticed that Marik was talking in full sentences now, slightly scared by the underlying anger in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" He stopped, unable to think of anything to say. His mind was completely blank… What could he have said anyway? Nothing would have been good enough for Marik.

"Don't worry about it Ryou, we're just glad you're back. Please don't cry…" Ryou quickly wiped his face, he hadn't realised he was crying. He smiled at them, relaxing slightly as they loosened their grip on him.

"So…" Duke suddenly said, trying to look the picture of innocence as he sat down on the bed. "You and Malik got together eh?" He smirked at the developing blush on Ryou's face and sighed happily. "Aw, he's blushing! That's so sweet!"

The others sighed as one while Duke continued to babble to himself about Ryou and Malik being a couple, the former wondering if sinking into a nice big hole in the ground would make him feel any better. Luckily he was saved by the arrival of the latter, who listened to Duke for approximately one second before hitting him around the back of the head.

"Duke, shut up before Ryou bursts a blood vessel!" Malik snapped before turning to him. "You tired?" Ryou shook his head and Malik sat down next to him, stroking his back gently with his hand.

"It's really good to see you all again." Ryou said happily, leaning his head on Malik's shoulder. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Well…" Joey said quietly, glancing at Kaiba. "Um, me and Seto are…" His voice died away, embarrassed at all the people staring at him.

"Getting on a lot better than before." Kaiba finished, taking Joey's hand and squeezing in reassurance. The others looked puzzled, trying to work out exactly what they meant when they realised that Duke had finally stopped ranting to an invisible audience and was now staring at them.

"Wait…you're together too?" They nodded their heads and Duke's face nearly cracked with the huge smile on his face. "That's so cute! Everyone's getting together! Now if only someone else could make a confession, then it would be absolutely perfect! It would be-"

"Hmm, is it worth giving Duke a heart attack by telling them?" Bakura murmured and when Kaiba heard this, he smirked silently before clearing his throat.

"Well if it helps Duke, Bakura and Marik have been wanting to tell you something for a little while now…" Kaiba watched with amusement as Duke's eyes lit up and he clasped his hands together, squealing loudly.

"Wait, you two are a couple too? Oh this is just too much!" Duke sighed happily before sinking down onto the edge of the bed, completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

"So…you're all not bothered by this?" Bakura said carefully, hesitantly sitting next to Marik.

"Of course not! I mean, why would we? We know you're perfectly normal (**5**)." Tristan said in his usual ineptness and Yugi sighed, shaking his head at Tristan's lack of subtlety.

"What he means is that we're very happy for you."

"What? Of course that's what I mean! Was that not obvious?" Joey and Marik shook their heads slowly and Tristan laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Oh…"

"Never mind Tristan, we got the basic drift. I'm just glad we don't have to hide this anymore." Bakura said with obvious relief and the others nodded in agreement.

Yami smiled along with the others but inside he felt his heart ache with never to be said feelings. /_He_/ was sitting there, right in front of him, but he felt so far away…

_#I wish I did not have to hide anymore either…_#

* * *

Well here are the explanations for places etc. (Just a note to say I lost the book that was my main source for research so these may not be 100 percent accurate)

(**1**) She-sheet - Male prostitute

(**2**) Haymarket - This is an area in London near Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square which was famed for prostitutes and brothels.

(**3**) Silas here is hinting at what was to become the Criminal Law Amendment Act. This increased the age of consent for sex from 13 to 16 as well as banning all forms of male relationships. It was only then that male prostitutes started becoming more common.

(**4**) Windmill Street - This is one of the most famous streets in the Haymarket where prostitutes visited the restaurants and theatres in search of customers.

(**5**) They used to believe back in the Victorian times that homosexuals were mentally ill and that it was a disease. In fact, it has been classified as a mental illness by the World Health Organisation up until 1992. Little fact for you there.

In case you're wondering about the kissing scenes, I found them in amongst a rather mature looking bit of cheddar and what I think used to be half a chicken (Sorry there Lia Xaragi, had to borrow your joke). I'm very sorry about all the corny bits, definitely not like how I imagined it.

So as usual, please review and I'll see you in a couple of weeks' time for the next part, which is light and not too serious.

S. Chensu xxx.

P.S. Anyone noticed something about the titles yet? If you know what I'm talking about, please mention it in your review and make me happy!


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